Gearing up to sell its own four-door, all-electric sedan in a couple years, Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer told well-heeled listeners in Monterey, California that Tesla’s “Ludicrous Speed” was plain ol’ dumb, Automotive News reported.
“We don’t do Ludicrous because Ludicrous speed is stupid,” Palmer said.
(But selling a variation of a four-door Aston Martin that’s been on sale for 6 years with a 200-mile range for $200,000 to $250,000? That’s genius.)
Palmer also described Aston Martin’s upcoming DBX, an all-wheel drive crossover four-door that could go on sale as early as 2019. That car could be offered as a plug-in hybrid, an all-gasoline model and eventually as an all-electric vehicle, according to the report.
Few details about the all-electric Rapide were made available, however. The four-door sedan could boast around 800 horsepower and a 200-mile range.
Aston Martin currently sells the gasoline Rapide for just over $200,000 in the U.S. Tesla’s Model S P85D with Ludicrous Speed update costs $118,000 before incentives.
I considered buying a rapide from Aston Martin Roslyn, NY pre-owned with 10,000 miles for less than $125,000. I couldn’t even sit comfortably in the thing. The roof was so low and the car’s interior felt no better than Jaguar XJ-L. Got the Jaguar XJ-L instead.
An Electric version of this car only makes sense if it is outperforms the P85D. But for $200,000+?
Electrify a Jaguar XJ-L with PHEV instead and sell it for $100,000. Electric motor for traffic and speeds under 40.
Gas engine for all other scenarios.
Yes but in this area all the elderly people seem to drive a Jaguar XJ or Porsche Panamera while the Aston Martin is still relatively rare to see.
Not that I’d buy any of these, the depreciation on luxurious british cars is quite the thing to behold. Time to start investing in those air cooled 911’s.
Yes. Time to start investing at the peak of the air cooled market price frenzy, while the stock market is crashing. What could go wrong?
Ludicrous Speed and Insane Mode are nothing more than advertisements for a $135,000 car that less than 15% of Earth’s population can even hope to afford.
As you all know, I was one of the first to experience Insane Mode. Borrowed a P85D for a weekend and made a few videos of it.
0-60 in less than 4 seconds is nice. 1G of acceleration is nice. But I’ll settle for SRT’s .89G of acceleration for 1/3rd the price.
…and better interior materials.
…and better infotainment system
…and heated & ventilated seats
…and heated & cooled cup holders…
Where’s yours mr. $135,000+ cars???
Who are you?
HAHAHAH better interior materials.
Only 1% of the earth’s population makes over $100,000 USD per year.
$30K USD is the 15% point.
The fact that Elon Musk is a Mel Brooks fan makes me like him a little bit more.
The fact that none of you guys recognize where this came from makes me just a little bit sad.
Does Dodge pay you to shill their sub-par cars?
The only people I know with Dodges are either poor, or stupid, or both.
Damn son, that username fits you like a glove.
By the way, are you a BMW/Audi/MB driver?
Edit: Seems like you drive a Porsche. Why am I not surprised?
Correction. I drive TWO Porsches.
“Aston Martin CEO Throws Rocks at Glass House”
I thought this was going to be about Ford.
I thought drug addicted Diane Lane was gonna get hurt!
Diane Lane has been hot for basically three decades.
She has an elegance about her. Also in this group I’d put the lovely Helen Mirren and Cate Blanchett.
Yes, I would imagine that Aston Martin thinks “ludicrous speed” is dumb.
Being the pedantic Brits they are, they would probably call it “Properly Fast” or Bloody Awesome” mode in the Rapid.
Tesla quoting “Space Balls” is a bit silly and if I could afford a AM I’d surely buy one just because I think it’s a great looking car.
Fred, my above comment excludes you. Well recognized, sir!
Ludicris Speed would be stupid, unless I could turn it up to Eleven.
Usually, you sellz what you got. He’s selling what he doesn’t have, and dissing what Tesla does have.
Andy should remember his humble Nissan (Leaf) days from not so long ago.
As for Aston Martin, they’ll move those EV Rapides by the hundreds per year.
The quotes coming from Aston Martin are always poncy and annoying. “Oh we don’t DO that sort of thing, clearly.”
*Few years later, does said thing.*
“We don’t need that type of consumer, our customers are the poshy of posh and quite elegant class entrepreneurs and actors.”
*Builds Toyota IQ Limited and calls it Cygnet.*
““We don’t do Ludicrous because Ludicrous speed is stupid.”
*Ludacris drives through side of building in CADDYLACK BROUGHAM.*
I remember that Ludacris rap; I must have been in second or third grade when it debuted. I’d just thought at the time that Ludacris was trying to make the song rhyme, not realizing that “Brougham” was pronounced “Brome”.
In the ’80’s, when you could buy fast bikes with names like “Hurricane”, the insurance industry tried to effectively ban them by refusing to write insurance policies on bikes with “fast” names. So, for example; “Hurricane” was changed to “CBR”. I imagine the same thing may happen to cars with “ludicrous” speed settings.
How rival camps have tried to diss Tesla: http://teslamondo.com/2015/05/08/how-rival-camps-try-to-diss-tesla/
Finally, someone succeeds in making a P85D look like the value-for-cost option.
So, “Ludicrous Speed” is silly, and “Emotional Control Units” instead of keys, and the gauges proclaiming “POWER, BEAUTY, SOUL” on startup arent’t? Got it.
The Rapide wasn’t genius. You know what was truly genius? The Aston Martin Cygnet, a tarted-up Toyota/Scion iQ, for the two or three Aston owners who just *insisted* that their city cars have the storied winged badge. That is just pure, unbridled genius…so much so that the other exotic automakers promptly *didn’t* hustle to the market with competing products.
Yeah, Aston Martin, which survives on a strange cocktail of dated Ford and Volvo components (and apparently Toyotas that no one wants), definitely isn’t in a position to throw rocks.
And whatever happened to spokespeople being polite and diplomatic? I appreciate the candor every once in a while, but not everyone can be Jeremy Clarkson..:
And you get two plush cushions with that Aston/Toyota/Scion/iQ…
Palmer and de Nysschen used to work together at Infiniti before both left at about the same time. Now they’re off ruining other things.
Palmer would have been better off saying “crass” rather than “stupid”. At least then we’d know it was just the upper-class fulmination of a British twit.
Well if it’s faster, then they have to call it “Plaid”
https://youtu.be/mk7VWcuVOf0?t=125
(if this link doesn’t work, youtube search- They’ve gone into plaid )