Ultra-luxury car brands collectively accelerate "electric shock" and phase out internal combustion engines

With the carbon neutrality goals of various countries, ultra-luxury car brands have begun to accelerate the electrification transformation.

According to foreign media reports recently, Aston Martin will only sell electric or hybrid vehicles from 2026 and phase out internal combustion engine products. Aston Martin CEO Lawrence Strool said it would be fully electrified by 2026, but he did not disclose the point in time to stop selling cars with internal combustion engines.

"People still want the smell and noise of internal combustion engine models. We will gradually achieve an all-electric transition, but if someone wants to use an internal combustion engine in 2028, it is not impossible. Lawrence Stroll said Aston Martin plans to continue producing the V-12 model until 2026 or 2027. According to the plan, Aston Martin's first electric car will be launched in 2025, and by 2030, 50% of Aston Martin's production cars will be purely electric, 45% will be hybridized, and only 5% will be internal combustion engine racing cars speeding on the track.

At present, a number of ultra-luxury car brands have launched electrification strategies. Porsche is one of the first ultra-luxury car brands to announce an electrification strategy, the first pure electric sports car Taycan has been launched, it is expected that by 2025 Porsche delivery of about half of the new cars will be electric vehicles, of which pure electric sports cars are the mainstay, plug-in hybrid models as a supplement. Bentley will offer a hybrid version of each model by 2023, launch the first all-electric model in 2025, and achieve all plug-in hybrid and pure electric technologies in 2026. In 2030, Bentley will launch only pure electric models, officially transforming into a pure electric ultra-luxury brand; Lamborghini plans to hybridize all models by the end of 2024, and lamborghini's carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced by 50% by 2025, and it is expected to launch pure electric models around 2028.

In addition to Porsche, a number of ultra-luxury car brand electric products are not listed. The industry believes that because the existing technology is not enough to support the performance experience brought by ultra-luxury cars, ultra-luxury car companies generally launch electric vehicle products late. On the other hand, ultra-luxury brands are relatively niche, and the development of electric vehicles requires a lot of investment in technology, unlike larger auto giants with financial or technical support behind them, and the cost is also a major challenge.

From the perspective of the strategies announced by each company, the internal combustion engine technology will continue for a period of time. Porsche said that in terms of power technology, Porsche will focus on three technologies, one is to continue to optimize the internal combustion engine technology, the second is plug-in hybrid technology, and the third is pure electric technology to cope with different needs in the market. Lamborghini Global CEO Stephan Winkelmann also said in an interview with First Financial Reporter in January this year that the company is exploring other hybrid forms of future supercars, such as the use of internal combustion engines and synthetic fuels.

"According to customer acceptance of electric technology, customers are very much looking forward to the brand electrification revolution, and many young customers also believe that the brands they buy need to meet the requirements of sustainability. Other brands in the market have also been electrified and adjusted, and the market acceptance is very good. Therefore, we are not worried about the acceptance of the model. Stephan Winkelmann said.

At present, the sales of Porsche's electric vehicle products are growing, and the sales of its electric vehicle Taycan in 2021 have doubled to 41,000 units, and the cumulative sales of global sales have exceeded 61,000 units. In addition, it is worth noting that taycan sales have already surpassed sales of Porsche's ace sports car 911 in 2021.

In recent years, some new car-making forces have also launched pure electric sports cars. From the perspective of the domestic market, the new car-making force Gaohe launched the pure electric sports car HiPhi X, and its sales reached 919 units in December last year, slightly higher than the Porsche Taycan (898 units). However, ultra-luxury brands do not regard the new car-making forces as the main competitors, and the pure electric vehicles they generally hope to build are unique. "We want to be able to recognize it at a glance, and its technology, philosophy and powertrain are the only ones lamborghini uses." Stephan Winkelmann said.