As the popularity and demand for electric cars rise, we are happy to see slow and ugly hybrids and all-electric vehicles take a step back. Engineers and design teams have worked hard to provide electric cars that don’t sacrifice style and luxury.

While Toyota and Nissan have given us affordable options for plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars, luxury and sports car manufacturers are stepping up to outperform the rest, an Aston Martin, of course, is in on the game. The Aston Martin Rapide E will be the manufacturer’s first completely electric car, and it is a true competitor on the electric car market.

Modern styling and design

The Rapide E has all of the stunning style and design of previous Aston Martin cars. The body of the car is a combination of carbon fiber and aluminum, as many of their sportscars have been before this one.

The new electric Rapide E is not that dissimilar from its lineage and shares a lot of the same qualities as the four-door sedan that came before it. The original Rapide, in fact, looks so similar, that if you didn’t know any better you might not realize that the new Rapide E was much different.

The electric version does get some small style updates over the classic Rapide car, but the exterior and interior remain almost completely unchanged otherwise. New wheels have the rising popular “electric” disk styling in aluminum with efficiency in mind. Small modifications were also made to improve the car’s overall aerodynamics.

Rapide E electric power and performance

What makes the Rapide E even better is the driving experience it provides. We no longer have to suffer in slow and boring cars just to have that all-electric experience. Aston Martin claims that the Rapide E will be a direct competitor for already popular electric cars like the new Porsche Taycan. But does it have the power to keep up?

The Rapide E will have a reported 600hp according to Aston Martin, bringing it into the power wheelhouse of the Porsche Taycan, which makes as little as 522hp in the lowest base model 4S.

It has a somewhat disappointing top speed of 155mph, but the average Rapide E driver would have very little opportunity to go even that fast, if ever. Aston Martin also claims that their new electric will go from 0-60mph in under 4 seconds, but more testing is needed before we get some solid numbers. Competing with the Taycan wasn’t the only goal, as Aston Martin also claims that the Rapide E will surpass Tesla performance for their more popular models.

There are some major downfalls of the Rapide E, one being that the car will be made in relatively low production numbers. Some reports have shown that less than a thousand models will be produced, but only time and demand will show how many Aston Martin will end up producing.

The second downfall is that, while the car’s performance does compete well with other sporty electric cars, this one will cost over $300,000 making it relatively unattainable by most people looking to buy an electric car. You can buy the base model Taycan for less than a third of that price.