“This is a car for tech
entrepreneurs, the guys who drive Teslas, not Bentleys and Rolls-Royces,” he
said. “It’s in the same high-net-worth market but not aimed at the same
customer.” The All-Terrain’s styling is instantly recognisable from the Vision
Concept, including the windscreen and side glass that carry over to further
improve efficiencies between the two models. That sleek profile translates here
onto an SUV that should have a presence like nothing else on the road, with
futuristic styling that design chief Marek Reichman said “challenges but it
works”. He added: “It has to be unearthly and different.” In migrating from
sedan to SUV, the Lagonda has been designed from the roof down rather than the
floor up, to stop the usual slab-sidedness you get from large SUVs, and to keep
the body sleek but also benefit from the raised driving position and greater
cabin space and height an SUV brings. The Lagonda SUV is around 200mm taller
than the sedan.
Aston believes that
electric power and its packaging benefits are also ideally suited to luxury
cars, as it can liberate so much space within the cabin. “No one has taken
advantage of the fact that there is no internal combustion engine,” said
Reichman of the electric cars so far. “There’s oodles of space in here.” To
that end, the Lagonda SUV concept has an ultra-long wheelbase with batteries
mounted in the floor. This liberates a huge part of the car’s footprint for
cabin space. However, Autocar UK understands Aston is hoping for an
all-electric range of around 644km for the production version, with a wireless
rapid-charging technology fully replenishing the batteries in 15min.
The model is to be
all-wheel drive, with power coming from two electric motors – one on each axle.
The Lagonda SUV won’t be a proper 4x4 off-roader, but instead will have what
Palmer describes as “off-track potential rather than off-road”. The vast
four-seat interior is largely shared with the Lagonda sedan concept but trimmed
differently with luxurious materials, including cashmere and crystal, rather
than more traditional materials to show the different ambience that can be
created. The SUV also shares the dramatic rear-hinged rear door openings with
the saloon to help access to the interior. The two Lagonda concepts also share
their suspension systems with the upcoming DBX SUV, which will also be built at
St Athan from early next year as Aston’s first SUV.