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Aston Martin makes some of the most desirable cars in the world like the Aston Martin Vantage that was launched recently. That alone is enough incentive to own one despite the lofty price tag. What makes them more desirable is the fact that the price of an Aston Martin only goes upwards and never downwards as its age increases. The 1965 Aston Martin DB5 that was driven by James Bond fetched more than Rs 14 crore when it was auctioned off earlier this year. This is just one of many examples where classic Aston Martin cars have been sold for a price much higher than they were bought for. This effect is only multiplied if the Aston Martin in question is a desirable heritage classic like the DB5 or the DB6 MkII Volante. With emission norms tightening up across the world, Aston martin is very well aware that electric cars are the way to go forward. Though such heritage cars are not banned from public roads yet, there could be a possibility of such a ban in the future too. If a blanket ban on all cars older than 15 years is imposed, owners of heritage cars would be left in the lurch. Adding to all this is the fact that car buyers and users are becoming more environment conscious with every passing day. In order to prevent heritage car owners from getting into trouble with environmental agencies and to appeal to eco-friendly car owners, Aston Martin has announced the Heritage EV scheme. Under the Heritage EV program, owners of classic Aston Martins can get their cars converted so that they can purely run on electricity. Aston Martin will convert the classic car to an electric car by plonking in an electric motor while leaving as much of the heritage car in its original state as possible. This scheme includes leaving the gearbox and engine mounts in place. The first car that would undergo this conversion program is the Aston Martin DB6 MkII Volante that was produced from 1965 to 1971. For the Heritage EV program, Aston Martin will be using technology from their upcoming electric sports car – Rapide E. The Aston Martin Rapide E is set to debut in the latter half of 2019 and will be powered by an 800-volt, 65kWh battery. It will have range of over 320 kilometres and will go from 0-100km/h in under 4 seconds. With a top speed of 250km/h, it will be a pretty quick car. Aston Martin will be producing ‘cassettes’ with this EV technology that just slots into older Aston Martin cars and bolts on directly to the original engine mounting plates. The only major change inside the cars will be aTFT screen to display various vehicle parameters. The Aston Martin DB6 MkII Volante is powered by a 4.0-litre, inline-six-cylinder engine with a maximum power output of 282bhp and a peak torque output of 380Nm. 0-100km/h was dispatched in 8.4 seconds and it was capable of a top speed of around 240km/h. With the new electric powertrain though, things would change drastically. If Aston Martin decides to go anywhere close to the performance of the upcoming Rapide E with the DB6 MkII Volante, the brakes and suspension too would have to be upgraded. What makes the Heritage EV program interesting though is that it can be reversed. Just in case the owner of the car wants to plonk in that gas-guzzling petrol motor back in, Aston Martin would gladly do it for its valuable customer. Thoughts On Aston Martin Converting Classic Cars Into Electric The global automotive industry is moving toward electrification and there is no doubt about it. Be it mass market car manufacturers or exotic car manufacturers, everyone would sooner or later have to humble themselves before the electric motor and this is Aston Martin’s way of doing it – keeping them old classic running clean and green.
Source: DriveSpark.com