Aston Martin and the Chinese company LeEco have signed a memorandum of understanding that will see the two companies develop and release a production version of the Aston Martin RapidE electric vehicle concept, according to recent reports.
The current plan is for the production version of the electric 4-door sports sedan to be brought to market 2018.
The signing of the new memorandum of understanding represents simply the latest collaboration between the two companies — last month, the two companies revealed an Aston Martin Rapide S outfitted with the latest Letv Internet of the Vehicle (IOV) system. For much more on that, see: “Aston Martin & LeTV Kickstart Expansive Partnership.”
Green Car Congress provides more info on the newly announced plans:
The second area of the partnership — the development of low-emission vehicle technologies — has been accelerated as they have developed their respective plans for launching a range of new electric vehicles during the second half of the decade.
The Aston Martin RapidE concept was created to explore how the company can take an existing production vehicle and create an all-electric sports sedan. Since the creation of this concept vehicle, Aston Martin and Letv have been advancing the work on production feasibility including the identification of technology solutions for battery systems and powertrain.
The co-founder and global vice chairman of LeEco’s SEE Plan, Ding Lei, commented: “Signing of this MOU ushers a new phase of the collaborations between Aston Martin and LeEco. LeEco’s SEE Plan is dedicated to build electric, smart, connected and socialized cars. We have been targeting the highest standard in the auto industry in terms of design, R&D and manufacturing of our electric cars.”
A bit of a fancy-looking car, eh?