Meet the RapidE, Aston Martin’s first EV due in 2019

Aston Martin

Picture the scene: it's a few years in the future. James Bond is on a mission in Amsterdam, or Paris, or some other forward-thinking European city that has just banned internal combustion vehicles from the city center. But Spectre is up to something, and our intrepid hero—who doesn't like taxis or public transport—needs to find out what's happening while arriving in style. Commander Bond is in luck, for he is behind the wheel of an electric Aston Martin, the RapidE.

The venerable British carmaker announced on Tuesday that its first electric vehicle will go on sale in 2019. "RapidE represents a sustainable future in which Aston Martin’s values of seductive style and supreme performance don’t merely co-exist alongside a new zero-emission powertrain, but are enhanced by it," said Dr. Andy Palmer, Aston Martin's president and CEO, in a statement.