http://www.boatinternational.com | April 2016ILLUSTRATION: PING ZHU
C
ompared with fuelling a superyacht,
Aston Martin’s 12-cylinder, 5.9-litre,
190mph, continent-shrinking, four-door
grand tourer Rapide is inexpensive to
run, although a car that averages only 19 miles per gallon
is bound to raise a few eyebrows. But planet friendliness
has clearly been on the minds of Aston’s design team,
based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. Towards the back
end of last year the celebrated British marque unveiled
a “concept” version of its Rapide S model, one that is
powered purely by electricity and which promises to
offer emission-free, high-performance motoring at
a cost of just a few pennies per mile.
Aston, famed for its long-standing connection with
James Bond, pulled the wraps off the prototype outside
Lancaster House in London during a meeting between
Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge (who both
left Buckingham Palace after their wedding in Prince
Charles’s Aston DB6) and China’s President Xi Jinping.
The so-called RapidE (the capital E alluding to the
car’s electric powertrain) has been developed
with the Williams Formula 1 team at its high-tech
facility in Grove, Oxfordshire, and was wheeled
out in front of President Jinping as part of the
British Government’s “GREAT” campaign,
which is designed to show how good we still are
at making things.
More significantly, however, the event coincided with an agreement
between Aston Martin and the Chinese investment group ChinaEquity
to pursue the development of the car, which, if all goes according to plan,
could be brought to market within the next two years. And, with China
still leading the way when it comes to importing cars in the ultra-luxury
sector – not to mention its pollution problems in major cities – the
collaboration seems to make sense.Long-standing Aston aficionados will question the
idea of an all-electric Rapide and only time will tell
whether such a car will interest them. Rolls-Royce,
for example, received a lukewarm response from its
clientele to the Phantom 102EX electric concept when
it took it on a world tour in 2011 – although running
costs are not such a factor when you are spending
£200,000-plus on a car in the first place.
Things could be different with the RapidE, however. Tesla, the
world leader in electric car production, has proved beyond doubt that
zero-emissions vehicles can be fast, luxurious and practical with its
brilliant Model S saloon. And it has sold more than 100,000 of them
around the world since launching in 2012. But will Bond films be quite
so exciting if 007 pulls away in a silent Aston Martin?Amping it up
Aston Martin is going clean
and green with its zero
emission RapidE. But will
it fly, asks Simon de BurtonThose in the market for new swim shorts this season
should head to Vilebrequin – for style and substance.
The French brand has partnered with French Polynesian
charity Te Mana o Te Moana on a pair of limited-edition
“father and son” shorts to help protect sea turtles
through rescue, education and research programmes.
Men’s shorts £160, boys’ shorts £90, vilebrequin.comAston aficionados will
question the idea of an
all-electric Rapide. Time
will tell if it interests them