2002 Aston Martin Db7 V12 Vantage Coupe 2-door 6.0l on 2040-cars

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Tesla, European automaker may share Supercharger network [w/video]

Tesla Model S owners have had the now-500-plus Supercharger locations all to themselves since the free, high-speed charging network first opened up three years ago. The day may be coming when they'll have to start sharing, however. According to CEO Elon Musk, the company is "in talks with some manufacturers" about opening up its infrastructure to other autos. The mission statement of Tesla Motors is to "accelerate the advent of sustainable transport," and it can be argued that the success of its Model S is doing this, at least to some extent, by inspiring other automakers to build long-range electric vehicles themselves. Witness the Porsche Mission E concept and Audi E-Tron Quattro Concept as two recently unveiled examples. Sharing the Supercharger system is another way to speed things up. When EV owners of other marques want to take a trip, they may find themselves facing a hodge-podge of charging networks, each with slightly different standards, availability, and fees. Supercharging for free at well-mapped and easily accessible locations can only make things easier, and Musk has long said he would like other companies to make use of the network. With some manufacturers declaring allegiance to the CHAdeMO and others, the SAE Combo system, it seemed like Tesla might not get any takers, but finally it may be getting traction. Musk mentioned the development on at least two different occasions recently at speaking engagements in Berlin: once in a morning discussion, and later during a larger meeting with the German Minister of Economy & Energy, Sigmar Gabriel. While in the first instance, Musk used the plural "manufacturers," indicating there may be discussions with more than one firm, the second mention might be more relevant to the near term. In that case, while answering a question about sharing the Superchargers, he stated that "the CEO of one European car company, not a German car company, has approached us recently about doing exactly that, and we're super supportive of anyone who wants to do that." The question now becomes, "who will be the first to use the Tesla high-speed network?" With the specific mention of a European company, and the exclusion of German ones, our best guess is Aston Martin. Its CEO Andy Palmer is quite bullish on electric vehicles and the iconic British brand already has a test mule for an 800-hp electric Rapide on the road, not to mention its fabulous DBX under development.

Maybach and Aston Martin alliance talks fall apart

If you have, like us, been salivating at the notion of a new generation of Maybach and Lagonda ultra-luxury crafts built by Aston Martin, we've got some bad news: According to reports emanating from Germany, talks between AML and Daimler have broken down.
The proposal under negotiation would have seen Daimler outsourcing production of the next family of Maybach models to Aston Martin, which in return would benefit from Mercedes-Benz platforms and engines - not only for its svelte GTs, but also for its own future Lagonda line of limousines and luxury SUVs. That, and a boatload of money - or at least that's what AML was reportedly seeking, an issue that served as the stumbling block over which the deal reportedly collapsed.
That's not to say the two parties couldn't still reach some sort of a compromise, but short of that, Daimler may opt to either shut down Maybach altogether, find another partner, or take another stab at building new models internally.

AMG's partnership with Aston Martin won't extend past engines, for now

There's been talk of late about the technical partnership between Aston Martin and the AMG division of Mercedes-Benz going beyond engines to include Mercedes sports car and SUV platforms for the English brand, perhaps as a way to kickstart the development of a Lagonda SUV. But AMG CEO Tobias Moers, speaking to Top Gear, said that's effectively out of the question because, "No one has the time to discuss any more involvement than that for now."
Moers believes Aston Martin will be so busy "for the next two to three years" integrating its AMG-sourced engine and electronics that it won't have the resources to devote to working out a platform-sharing deal; Daimler sources have already said that Aston Martin's development budget "just isn't enough" to even consider a whole new model, and that greater cooperation would require something like a larger ownership stake in the boutique sports car maker.
AMG, in the meantime, is busy with the recent launch of the GLA45 AMG, the coming C63 AMG and its rumored 4.0-liter V8, the Mercedes-AMG GT and its assault on the Porsche 911 among who-knows-what other skunkworks projects. Moers said the technical partnership is about profit for AMG, clear and simple, and, "All these rumors about platform sharing are nice but no one at Aston or Mercedes has the time to discuss them."