Aston Martin gets £9m government EV boost

Cash injection will go towards projects aimed at making EVs lighter – fingers crossed…

By Cam Tait / Monday, 9 October 2023 / Loading comments

Aston Martin will have a year of two halves in 2025. It’ll launch what’s set to be its loudest model ever , with the Cosworth V12-engined Valkyrie Le Mans car, which will be joined by its quietest offering to date – and one that you’ll actually be able to buy – with the marque set to release its first all-electric vehicle the same year. The latter has now been boosted thanks to a £9 million cash injection from the UK government that’ll go towards the firm’s EV efforts.

The grant seems like a drop in the ocean when factoring in the £2 billion the marque has set aside for ‘future technologies’ over the next five years, which will see the firm move from combustion to electric power, but the company says the cash boost will bolster the development of a new, 800V modular electric platform that will underpin its maiden EV. Specifically, it’ll fund staff training on electrification, see the implementation of a digital toolchain and, crucially, projects that’ll focus on light weight vehicle construction – which has been an issue for EVs since day dot.

“The award of funding from the APC (Advanced Propulsion Centre UK) is another major boost to our electrification strategy and constant strive for innovation. Providing further resources to explore the possibilities of our bespoke BEV platform, it will help achieve our ambition to be an in-house BEV technology leader in the ultra-luxury, high-performance segment”, said Aston Martin chief technical officer Roberto Fedeli.

Quite what Aston Martin has up its sleeve isn’t known yet. A few months ago, the company announced it had signed an electric powertrains partnership with American EV car maker Lucid, and that its new platform would serve as the underpinnings for everything from hypercars to SUVs. The latter is expected to come first in 2025, with the teaser image above clearly showing the outline of the DBX. Which would make sense, really, but if you fancy one with V8 power, look no further than this F1-inspired DBX707…