Aston Martin delays first EV and cancels Lagonda relaunch

Aston Martin has revealed that its first-ever battery-electric model will now arrive in 2026 – a year later than originally planned – as part of a wider rethink on its future EV strategy.

Following in the tyre tracks of Mercedes-Benz, which is also tweaking its electrification plans, Aston Martin chairman Lawrence Stroll told journalists that currently there aren’t enough buyers to sustain a fast, expensive sports-luxury EV.

“The consumer demand [for EVs], certainly at an Aston Martin price point, is not what we thought it was going to be two years ago,” said Stroll.

Mirroring Mercedes-Benz’s decision to slow its EV rollout, Aston Martin will now invest in more plug-in hybrid powertrains to bridge the gap until the inevitable transition to all-electric power.

Stroll also claimed that Aston buyers wanted their cars to “still have the sports car smell and feel and noise”.

“We have addressed that [reduced EV demand] and will be coming out with a couple of very important plug-in hybrids before we launch our full BEVs,” he said.

According to Stroll, Aston Martin will now cling on to combustion power and PHEVs until the 2035 ban, but will continue to develop EVs.

There’s no word on what that means for the four electric cars Aston previous announced it was working on, but it’s thought the British marque’s partnership with Lucid will give it access to the advanced tech needed to build fast EVs with the level of performance required.

“So we’ll have a full complement of ICE, PHEV and BEV to last us well into the mid-2030s,” Stroll said.

Later this year, Aston Martin will reveal its first hybrid – the mid-engined Valhalla hypercar that harnesses the power of the Mercedes-AMG P3 hybrid.

Off the back of a fall in demand for EVs, Stroll has also confirmed that Aston Martin would no longer spin-off a luxurious all-electric Lagonda brand to battle Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

“We think there’s enough luxury in our sports cars and SUV, so we’re not considering launching a less-performance, higher-luxury car,” he said.

“That idea [Lagonda] is completely dead and has absolutely nothing to do with our electric vehicle plan.”

Aston has yet to officially confirm what it is hatching for the new 2026 launch, but it’s thought the first EV will be a high-riding quad-motor SUV-coupe that could be positioned to eventually supersede the current combustion-powered Aston Martin DBX.

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