Aston Martin's Electric Cars Will Sound Awesome

From a company known for making V12 engines, this doesn't surprise us.

Aston Martin is gearing up to replace its oldest model, the Rapide, with an all-new electric model called the Rapide E. The Rapide E is expected to arrive next year and Aston Martin has been teasing us with little details like a photo of the car's electric drivetrain without a body on top of it. We know only 155 will be built in the first year, each with over 600 horsepower and 710 lb-ft of torque. Aston wants it to be able to complete laps around the Nurburgring without running out of juice, so clearly, this will be a seriously fast EV.

One detail that hasn't been brought up is how the car will sound. Aston Martin has clearly been thinking about it, as Automotive News Europe reports.

When a normal car company like Chevrolet or Nissan sells an electric car, what it sounds like is of very little concern. However, Aston Martin's customers are used to the growl of a V8 or V12 engine, so they may be less willing to purchase a car that makes no engine noise. Clearly, the company has reason to be concerned.

"It's not just a car. It's about Aston Martin as a box. Here is electrification — go put that inside a company that has a great history of making V12 and V8 engines," John Caress, vehicle line director for the Rapide E, said.

Aston wants to make sure it eliminates the noises that were masked by the V12 engine. The Nissan Leaf famously used a different windshield wiper motor because the Nissan's normal unit was too loud without an engine to drown it out. Aston is already thinking about this sort of issue and will use noise-canceling Pirelli tires to partially eliminate road noise. In regard to how the electric motors will sound, Caress said "Electric machines have a certain frequency, but it's very hard to tune them. You get into augmented noises and that's not what this car is about."

After the Rapide E, Aston plans to revive the Lagonda brand with a new electric SUV. Clearly, customers are on board with an electric SUV from Aston Martin because company CEO Andy Palmer said: "We had people throwing money at us as deposits" at the preview event for the Lagonda. We can't wait to see what Aston Martin comes up with to make its EVs sound good. Chevy recently revealed a white noise for the Volt, but it is geared towards helping pedestrians hear the car coming. Aston's sound will need to make people forget about the V12, which is not an easy task.