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At Walton Bridge Garage, we like to think we keep up with the times. Although electric motors might not be the sort of engine that gets our guys in the garage ticking in the morning, they’re becoming more and more a part of the motoring landscape in this modern age.

When you think electric or eco-friendly, the sort of manufactures that spring to mind are Toyota and Tesla. Everything about Tesla sounds electrified, most likely as a result of the words roots as the SI unit of magnetic flux density. But they have done some nice things for electric cars since launching the Model S three years ago, more so in Norway and the Sunshine State, but the luxury looking five doors have moved away from eco warrior image previously associated with electric motors.

But perhaps one name that you might not expect to be in the electric mixer is Aston Martin. They’re planning to tackle Tesla’s dominance of the battery powered sector head on with a Rapide sedan, pumping out an insane 800hp.

The all-wheel drive motor will have a range of 200 miles and should be ready to roll within the next two years, according to CEO Andy Palmer who unveiled the plans at Pebble Beach.

With Aston joining the electric fray, there is a very real feel that the motoring world as we know it could be ending. We’ve been waking up with cold sweats, envisaging a world like that of the film Demolition Man. Where electric cars drive their owners at an almost snail’s pace and the only place to see a gas guzzling machine is in a museum. Hopefully if this world does come, Stallone will be on hand to, well, demolish it.

However one promising thing about the Rapide is that Aston Martin are building it based very much on power and performance, not how good it is for the environment. It would also seem that the production of an electric model is more of a balance of the scales, so they can continue producing V12 monsters. So rather than eradicating the petrol engine, this latest announcement is actually working towards its protection. At Walton Bridge that sits ok with us.

It will also remain a niche product with only a couple of hundred produced a year and with a price tag of somewhere between £130-160k, it will be a hard sell to the petrol loving Aston enthusiast.

We’re all for diversity in any shape or form, but the day that vegan soup bars start to outnumber steak houses, the world will be a very dark place.

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