Bond to go electric?

James Bond may have the chance to go electric in the future – with Aston Marin signing a deal towards putting its first electric car into production.

The British firm has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese technology company LeEco to work together on developing and manufacturing RapidE concept.

A production target of 2018 has been set.

LeEco was previously LeTv – and founder Jia Yuenting is the primary investor in US-based electric car developer Faraday Future.

Not surprisingly, the deal allows for Faraday, Aston and LeEco to work together on ‘next-generation connected electric vehicles.’

In January 2016, LeEco and Aston Martin revealed the first results of their partnership – an Aston Martin Rapide S incorporating LeCo’s LeTv Internet of the Vehicle (IOV) system.

The second area of the partnership – the development of low-emission vehicle technologies – has been accelerated as they have developed their respective plans for launching a range of new electric vehicles during the second half of the decade.

The first model developed by this partnership will be RapidE, created to explore how the company can take an existing production vehicle and create an all-electric sports car.

Work is already underway on production feasibility, including the identification of technology solutions for battery systems and powertrain.

Aston Martin chief executive Dr Andy Palmer says the company is dedicated to producing low emission technology vehicles.

“We have been encouraged by the project speed and technical depth shown by LeTv in the development of the RapidE concept towards full production,” Palmer says. “Bringing the RapidE to market by 2018 is an important milestone for both companies. ”