► Start-up Aehra readies two all-new EVs
► Saloon and SUV promised for 2026
► Price and range to rival Model S, Taycan
Time for some new thinking about what electric cars look like and how they’re made. Says who? Says Aehra, an entirely new company that’s planning to produce a pair of equally new models: a sleek electric SUV and an aero-optimised EV saloon.
We got our first look at the Aehra SUV in 2022 – on which more further down this page – and now the start-up firm has issued the first teaser images of its Aehra Sedan model.
Aehra?
Bless you. Oh, sorry. Yes. The company describes itself as ‘a new global ultra-premium electric automotive brand’, privately funded and headquartered in Milan. The plan is combine Italian design with American customer service and ‘world-class’ engineering.
It’s certainly swoopy – tail-end teaser of the new Aehra Sedan
That engineering is based around a flat EV architecture, which will supposedly allow Aehra to ‘set new standards for aerodynamic efficiency and interior space’.
The name? It’s a mash-up of the Latin for epoch and the modern Italian for aerodynamic.
Tell us more about the Aehra Sedan
At the moment, we’ve only got some slightly obtuse teaser images to go on visually, but the full concept is set to appear at the Milano Monza Motor Show on 16 June 2023.
According to Aehra: ‘the images depict a vehicle with exquisitely beautiful flowing lines and exceptionally strong organic, muscular proportions. They offer an alluring early insight into the Sedan’s dynamic front treatment, almost liquid-like side profile and elegantly tapered rear and depict design characteristics that would typically be the preserve of a supercar show vehicle.’
Purposeful bulges abound – all in the name of outstanding aero, apparently
However, Aehra head of design, Filippo Perini, is quick to point out that ‘we do not believe in creating unrepresentative concept cars, so when we unveil the new Sedan at the Milano Monza Moving Motor Show on June 16th, the car will look virtually identical to the final production model that will arrive in 2026.’
We’re told the saloon will follow the same ‘mono-body principles’ as the SUV, as well as using the same underpinings. On that basis, we can expect a sort of futuristic lozenge, naggingly reminiscent of the ship from Flight of the Navigator. Cool.
Beyond this, Aehra co-founder, chairman and chief executive, Hazim Nada is promising ‘the very best technology, materials and methodologies the global automotive industry has to offer.’ These materials include ‘pioneering’ recyclable carbonfibre composites, we’re told.
What about the Aehra SUV?
This we know a little more about as the whole thing was revealed in 2022.
Sleek looks for Aehra SUV – although what’s going on with those wheels?
Featuring a three-metre wheelbase, and a smattering of touchscreen across the length of the dashboard, the Aehra SUV would do well at ‘electric concept car bingo.’ There’s even a further readout in the steering wheel.
The interior is configured differently depending on if the car is in motion or stationary; in Drive mode only key information such as speed is displayed, but when parked the cars screens can extend upward for a home theatre experience. That’s the idea, anyway.
Bit plain from the back, perhaps?
Chief executive Hazim Nada tells us: ‘We saw a gap in the way electric vehicles were being built. That’s what we tried to address. We started from first principles, and not inheriting architecture and mindsets from a century of vehicle design. What, from the outside, should a vehicle respect? And what, from a customer perspective, should it inspire? When you marry those two you end up with our products.’
Aehra EVs from scratch
The first two cars from Aehra will, he says, inevitably be referred to as a saloon and an SUV, because of their dimensions, but he promises that they will not look like other SUVs and saloons.
Early design sketch proving true to real-life Aehra designs so far
‘We see a natural progression for electric vehicles to follow that nobody’s really pushing for yet. The shapes of electric vehicles should not look as they do today. When we first started proof-of-concept processes, we took practically all the sedans in circulation, all the sedans being proposed for production on the EV side, and we overlapped them. And they are literally overlappable. They all have this frunk in the front, they all have these empty spaces that are seldom used by their customers. There are many inefficiences that, once you address them, once you get rid of them, allow for a very substantial shift in the emotional effect of the design, and efficiency, and also liveable space in the cabin.’
Expect the new cars to be comparable on range and price to the Tesla Model S, Porsche Taycan and Mercedes EQS and EQS SUV.
Nada was inspired to start the company after many years working with great success as an oil trader. ‘I was fighting daily in a market that I thought would lose its strategic role, and would have to lose its strategic role. If it didn’t we would all be in trouble. I had the blessing of having a little time off in late 2018, early 2019, and that period allowed me to think about this energy transition, and what was happening in electric vehicles.’
Aehra boss, Hazim Nada
In his free time, he’s also been a pilot and a skydiver, and with Aehra co-founder Sandro Andreotti developed what at the time was the world’s largest vertical wind tunnel. That interest in aerodynamics is a key part of Aehra’s DNA.
What about the cars?
The cars will, he promises, look not just different but also highly appealing. Having ex-Italdesign styling wizard Filippo Perini on board as chief designer should help.
There will also be some new production processes, involving a simpler way of mass-producing carbonfibre body panels.
The company has an R&D centre in Milan, but its business model involves partnerships with outside suppliers, rather than developing and making everything in-house. The factory is likely to be in (or near) Italy, up and running in time for 2025 production. Europe, the UK and the US will be the first markets, with ‘salons’ (rather than traditional dealerships) in main cities and a strong online presence.
The aim is 25,000 saloons and 25,000 SUVs a year. Nada is confident that the industry’s current supply-chain problems will be sorted by then.
The current disruption – not just semiconductor shortages, but also Covid and the war in Ukraine – will if anything help Aehra get off to a strong start compared to rivals burdened with legacies of outdated factories and slowly evolving product line-ups.
Is now the best time to start a company?
‘This is the best time. From a strategic standpoint, all the other producers are stuck in these problems, all the vehicles that have been developed over the past few years and have started prodction recently are unable to ramp up. By the time we hit production, the market will not have reached its full capacity. And here we come with vehicles that have redefined the shapes, and are pushing the envelope further. From that perspective, it’s a great time.’
If it all turns out as well as Hazim Nada predicts, then remember that you read it here first.