James Bond Is Set to Smoulder in an Electric Aston Martin

The next Bond franchise will see the popular British spy cruising around battling villains in an electric vehicle according to various reports. It’s highly speculated that 007 will be driving the Aston Martin Rapid E, the luxury car manufacturer’s first ever EV that comes with a hefty price tag of US$300,000.

According to UK’s The Sun newspaper, an insider said the film’s director, Cary Joji Fukunaga who is a “total tree-hugger”, is pushing to include a more sustainable convertible for the British agent and managed to convince producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson to agree on giving Bond a zero emission car. Fukunaga is also said to be working directly with Aston Martin on the show car to feature in the film.

The British luxury car maker is said to produce only 155 of the limited edition model with battery and technology supplied by Williams Advanced Engineering. Based on the engine powered Rapide model, Aston Martin’s first ever electric car will feature a 65.0-kWh battery, powered by two e-motors and a combined output of 603 horsepower with a top speed of 250 kilometres per hour.

For Bond fans who would also like to lower their carbon footprint, the Rapid E will be available in showrooms at the end of 2019. Unfortunately, extra features supplied from Q branch will not be included in showroom models.

Aston Martin is an integral part of the James Bond heritage where the Aston Martin DB5 made its first ever screen appearance as Bond’s vehicle of choice in Goldfinger in 1964. Since then, various models including the Aston Martin DBS, the DBS V12 and Aston Martin V12 Anguish have made appearances spanning 11 James Bond films over the past 50 years. The next Bond franchise, known as Bond 25 for the time being, is slated for a spring 2020 release.

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