Following a challenging 2020, Tobias Moers, Aston Martin’s CEO, has said that the Valhalla, though delayed, is still on its way. What will go under the hood, though, is less certain.
“We will have the Valhalla with us in the second half of 2023,” the CEO told investors following the announcement of its 2020 financial results, per Autocar. “With the transformational technology agreement with Mercedes-Benz, there are other chances for us regarding combustion engines, but we will still have an electrified drivetrain.”
That could mean that the production Valhalla won’t have the F1-inspired V6 it promised to design in-house in 2020, nor will the car be ready for its original announced 2022 launch date. Although Aston’s in-house V6 engine project seems to be dying, there’s another F1-inspired V6 that the brand might have access to thanks to its tie-up with Mercedes.
While Moers specifically avoided commenting on which powertrain Aston Martin was looking at, the Mercedes-AMG Project ONE uses a 1.6-liter V6 hybrid engine making around 1,000 hp, derived from the brand’s multiple championship-winning Formula 1 car. Mercedes is investing big in hybrid technology, though, so there are certainly other appropriate engines to choose from.
Speaking about powertrains, Moers added “everything is a reasonable cost situation,” suggesting no specific powertrain is prohibitively expensive for the British sports car manufacturer.
The German automaker first took a 5% stake in UK firm in 2013 and announced late last year that it was bumping its investment up to 20% by 2023.
The tie-up is the main reason that Mercedes’ engines have become available to Aston. Moers confirmed that the partnership will mean a plug-in hybrid DBX by 2024. It plans to electrify 90% of its models by 2030.
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