Aston forced upmarket with posh Model S rival

Aston Martin's ambitious plan to create an up-market rival for the Tesla Model S has encountered stormy seas as LeCo, the company's Chinese partner, has axed its part of the joint venture required to develop the RapidE model.

Aston Martin chief Andy Palmer says RapidE production will be limited to 155 vehicles -- less than a third of the originally slated number.

With the production cut, Aston is hoping to bank on the RapidE's exclusivity and charge around £200,000 ($A330,000) per car to help recoup development costs.

Without LeEco's help, Palmer says Aston will draw on the road car arm of Williams Grand Prix Engineering to assist development of both the RapidE's powertrain and battery cell integration.

Williams will also supply the power packs, something it is already doing for the teams competing in the Formula E race series.

Speaking to Reuters, Palmer said: "We have decided to make this car rare, which will obviously tend to push the price higher".

Originally unveiled in October 2015, the electric Rapide S sedan was supposed to be on sale by 2018, but soon after the announcement Aston's Chinese partner ran into financial difficulty.

This has meant LeEco has been forced to slash all investment earmarked for ts pure-electric car making business -- including cutting funds to its fledgling US brand Faraday Future.

On the back of this financial strife, the Chinese investors have been sued by numerous suppliers over non-payment.

The RapidE, meanwhile, will now go on sale later in 2019.

Aston Martin says it will begin collecting 10 per cent deposits from prospective RapidE customers as early as next month.

Unknown at this stage is precisely how termination of the partnership with LeEco will impact Aston Martin's DBX crossover, which was intended to include a pure-electric variant.

Addressing concerns about the pure-electric DBX, Palmer told the newswire: "The RapidE project was always about learning in readiness for the DBX derivative".