Could the next James Bond be driving an EV powered by Lucid Motors?
The public may not yet know who the next actor will be to fill the polished, often knife-equipped, shoes of M16’s top 00 agent – James Bond, but we do have a better idea of what type of vehicle he may be driving to evade the baddies when he makes his on-screen debut. Following an existing supply agreement with Aston Martin, Lucid Motors’ CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson hinted that James Bond’s next vehicle could be 100% electric.
Ian Fleming’s James Bond franchise has long outlived the UK writer and become one of the most successful franchises of all time. Since the first film adaption of Fleming’s 1958 novel, Dr. No, we’ve seen five different actors (and George Lazenby) portray 007.
The most recent chapters in the Bond saga were a lot grittier and action-packed, led by Daniel Craig, whose 15-year tenure as the British spy ended with a literal bang. While Eon Productions, responsible for a large majority of the Bond films, and distributor MGM have not yet publicly revealed who the next James Bond will be, the role will most certainly live on, as the franchise’s most recent entries garnered some of the highest-grossing box office numbers, even with inflation.
When 007 finally returns to the silver screen, you can expect Martinis, cheeky yet borderline cheesy one-liners, and plenty of chase scenes. As an M16 agent under Her Majesty’s Secret Service, you can also expect 007 to be driving a UK-made vehicle.
Fleming himself wrote that Bond’s character had “once dabbled on the fringe of the racing world,” so the spy has always had an eye for flashy cars (even BMWs in the 90s). While 007 drove an Aston Martin DB Mark III in Fleming’s first three novels, the series’ first film adaptation featured a DB5, which made a return to the screen in 2021’s No Time to Die.
As the vehicle of choice in more than half of the 25 existing Bond films, Aston Martin is undoubtedly the brand associated with the international super spy. It appears that trend will continue with the next James Bond, and according to Lucid CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson, it could be an electric Aston Martin powered by Sapphire.
CEO hints James Bond’s next car may be Lucid powered
During a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the opening of Phase 2 at its AMP-1 production facility in Arizona, Lucid Motors CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson was in great spirits in front of a crowd that included plant employees, media, and local politicians.
Following an up-close look at its upcoming Gravity SUV and a peek at its sheet-clad mid-size EV in the pipeline, Rawlinson shared another juicy tidbit regarding a long-term strategic partnership with Aston Martin announced last June.
Through the deal, Lucid Motors will supply its proprietary electric powertrain technology present in the Air Sapphire, including its high-performance twin motor unit, battery tech (not the cells), and Wunderbox charging system. The components will all be built at AMP-1 and shipped overseas to the UK automaker via supply contracts worth over $450 million.
Following the partnership, Aston Martin said it would use Lucid’s technology to help launch its first 100% electric model in 2025. With Lucid-powered Aston Martin EVs on the way, could we see James Bond behind the wheel of one on screen? Peter Rawlinson seems to think so. He shared the following in front of the crowd in AZ when discussing bringing powertrain manufacturing into AMP-1:
It is little wonder that Aston Martin chose our Sapphire technology, and certainly, Lucid will be powering the Aston Martins of the future, and a little bird tells me that maybe Mr. Bond will be powered by Lucid as a consequence. Wouldn’t that be cool?
007 driving an EV? We’ve heard this one before. Aston Martin promised to do it in 2019 with its RapidE concept, but it never came to fruition. Now, with the help of Lucid and its Sapphire powertrain technology, we could very well see James Bond in an all-electric Aston Martin taking on a real-life villain – climate change.
What do you think? Will the studio finally put Bond in an EV? Would that sort of acceleration even be fair to the cronies chasing him through the streets of Morocco or the Furka Pass is Switzerland? Having no engine noise is probably ideal for stealth missions though.
We still need to learn who the next James Bond will be, but when that new 007 dons his first tuxedo, he may be stepping out and into an electric Aston Martin powered by Lucid.
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If you’ve ever wondered what happens when you combine a fruit cart, a cargo bike, and a Piaggio Ape all in one vehicle, now you’ve got your answer. I submit, for your approval, this week’s feature for the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column – and it’s a beautiful doozie.
Feast your eyes on this salad slinging, coleslaw cruising, tuber taxiing produce chariot!
I think this electric vegetable trike might finally scratch the itch long felt by many of my readers. It seems every time I cover an electric trike, even the really cool ones, I always get commenters poo-poo-ing it for having two wheels in the rear instead of two wheels in the front. Well, here you go, folks!
Designed with two front wheels for maximum stability, this trike keeps your cucumbers in check through every corner. Because trust me, you don’t want to hit a pothole and suddenly be juggling peaches like you’re in Cirque du Soleil: Farmers Market Edition.
To avoid the extra cost of designing a linked steering system for a pair of front wheels, the engineers who brought this salad shuttle to life simply side-stepped that complexity altogether by steering the entire fixed front end. I’ve got articulating electric tractors that steer like this, and so if it works for a several-ton work machine, it should work for a couple hundred pounds of cargo bike.
Featuring a giant cargo bed up front with four cascading fruit baskets set up for roadside sales, this cargo bike is something of a blank slate. Sure, you could monetize grandma’s vegetable garden, or you could fill it with your own ideas and concoctions. Our exceedingly talented graphics wizard sees it as the perfect coffee and pastry e-bike for my new startup, The Handlebarista, and I’m not one to argue. Basically, the sky is the limit with a blank slate bike like this!
Sure, the quality doesn’t quite match something like a fancy Tern cargo bike. The rim brakes aren’t exactly confidence-inspiring, but at least there are three of them. And if they should all give out, or just not quite slow you down enough to avoid that quickly approaching brick wall, then at least you’ve got a couple hundred pounds of tomatoes as a tasty crumple zone.
The electrical system does seem a bit underpowered. With a 36V battery and a 250W motor, I don’t know if one-third of a horsepower is enough to haul a full load to the local farmer’s market. But I guess if the weight is a bit much for the little motor, you could always do some snacking along the way. On the other hand, all the pictures seem to show a non-electric version. So if this cart is presumably mobile on pedal power alone, then that extra motor assist, however small, is going to feel like a very welcome guest.
The $950 price is presumably for the electric version, since that’s what’s in the title of the listing, though I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. I’ve bought a LOT of stuff on Alibaba, including many electric vehicles, and the too-good-to-be-true price is always exactly that. In my experience, you can multiply the Alibaba price by 3-4x to get the actual landed price for things like these. Even so, $3,000-$4,000 wouldn’t be a terrible price, considering a lot of electric trikes stateside already cost that much and don’t even come with a quad-set of vegetable baskets on board!
I should also put my normal caveat in here about not actually buying one of these. Please, please don’t try to buy one of these awesome cargo e-trikes. This is a silly, tongue-in-cheek weekend column where I scour the ever-entertaining underbelly of China’s massive e-commerce site Alibaba in search of fun, quirky, and just plain awesomely weird electric vehicles. While I’ve successfully bought several fun things on the platform, I’ve also gotten scammed more than once, so this is not for the timid or the tight-budgeted among us.
That isn’t to say that some of my more stubborn readers haven’t followed in my footsteps before, ignoring my advice and setting out on their own wild journey. But please don’t be the one who risks it all and gets nothing in return. Don’t say I didn’t warn you; this is the warning.
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Environment
Podcast: Trump/GOP go after EV/solar, Tesla, Ford, GM EV sales, Electrek Formula Sun, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Trump’s Big Beautiful bill becoming law and going after EVs and solar, Tesla, Ford, and GM EV sales, Electrek Formula Sun, and more
Today’s episode is brought to you by Bosch Mobility Aftermarket—A global leader and trusted provider of automotive aftermarket parts. To celebrate Amazon Prime Day July 8th through 11th, Bosch Mobility is offering exclusive savings on must-have auto parts and tools. Learn more here.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
- Electrek FSGP 2025: New teams, new cars, same solar spirit
- Congress votes to send 2 million US jobs to China, increase deficit, energy costs
- Tesla (TSLA) confirms 384,000 deliveries in Q2 2025, right on expectations
- Tesla prototype sparks speculation: a Model Y, maybe slightly smaller
- Tesla launches Oasis Supercharger with solar farm and off-grid batteries
- Tesla unveils its LFP battery factory, claims it’s almost ready
- Here’s why Ford’s electric vehicle sales crashed by nearly a third in Q2
- The Chevy Equinox EV is GM’s breakout star, but that’s not the only surprise
- Xpeng launches G7, a new Tesla Model Y competitor for just $27,000
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
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