At long last, Aston Martin has kicked off production of the electrified Valkyrie hypercar, more than five years since unveiling the preceding AM-RB 001 concept. Each and every vehicle will require more than 2,000 man hours to assemble and only 150 units will ever be made. Before being delivered to its rightful owner, the car is tested at the company’s facility on the Silverstone track where most of the development took place.
The coupe will be joined by a Spider version as well as a hardcore AMR Pro restricted to the track. The road-going models will utilize a Cosworth-developed 6.5-liter V12, a naturally aspirated gasoline engine revving up to 11,000 rpm. The combustion engine is going to work together with an electric motor developed by Rimac to form a hybrid setup good for an astounding 1,140 horsepower (850 kilowatts).
It’s far from being the first hybrid hypercar as the “Holy Trinity” consisting of the Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1, and Porsche 918 Spyders all had electrified powertrains in the early 2010s, but Aston Martin is taking the technology to new heights. The mid-engined machine will have to go up against another hybrid hypercar, the Mercedes-AMG One due in 2022 with an electrified setup borrowed from Lewis Hamilton’s championship-winning Formula 1 car.
The Gaydon-based automaker will follow up on the Valkyrie with another hybrid offering, this time around a more affordable Valhalla supercar featuring a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 borrowed from AMG and teamed up with dual electric motors. It will have a combined output of 937 hp (699 kW), which is not that far off compared to the V12 flagship.
But wait, there’s more. A third performance machine, which will revive the Vanquish moniker, is also in the works and likely to feature a hybrid configuration as well since this is where the industry is heading. As with other automakers, Aston Martin is channeling its efforts towards hybrids and EVs to prepare for the inevitable death of the combustion engine.
Source: Aston Martin
