US-Italian EV start-up Aehra has teased its €160,000 (£138,160) electric saloon that will be revealed on 16 June and form a two-car line-up to take on the “under-occupied” ultra-premium segment.
Following in the footsteps of Aehra’s SUV, the Mercedes-Benz EQS rival arrives without a name (no Aehra vehicles will be named) and will be styled in a similarly dramatic way to its larger sibling, with short overhangs, a rakish roofline and a signature lighting design front and rear. It will be revealed at the Milano Monza Motor Show.
The second model from the firm, which was formed only this year, will sit “much” lower than the €180,000 (£155,430) SUV and will look “virtually identical” in final production form, chief designer and former Lamborghini style boss Filippo Perini told Autocar, therefore resembling a “concept on the street”. The EV will also look more like a supercar than a saloon, the Urus designer confirmed, with a sleek body and sharp lines. Perini called it the “best vehicle” he has ever designed: “The exterior is amazing.”
Alessandro Serra, Aehra’s head of design, said: “We simply aim to become the most attractive Italian EV brand.”
As with the SUV, most of the design will be fitted around the car’s stretched cabin – the dashboard will sit above the front axle – in line with Aehra’s vision of a spacious interior to fit passengers over six-foot tall “comfortably”. The doors will be “not usual”, confirmed Serra, but he said they will not take the form of the SUV’s scissor doors.
The saloon will share 70% of its components with the SUV to minimise production costs and time. This will include the same 3m-long monobody chassis (the saloon will measure 5.10m in length) and 120kWh battery – no other car on sale currently houses a bigger one – giving it a range of close to 500 miles.
It is also expected to use the same powertrain set-up, which will be either two or three motors (one on the front axle and two on the back), depending on which supplier is eventually used. The set-up will produce a similar 794bhp output to that of the SUV.