Skip to main content

Aston Martin’s DBX SUV has a luxurious interior, and a price to match

Image used with permission by copyright holder

With Bentley, Lamborghini, and Rolls-Royce launching SUVs, it was only a matter of time before Aston Martin followed suit with one of its own. The Aston Martin DBX has been teased for the past few months and, while Aston isn’t ready to reveal it yet, we do know how much it will cost. Pricing will start at $189,900 when order books open later this month. Aston also revealed details of the DBX’s interior.

The base price puts the DBX at the low end of Aston’s lineup, in the same ballpark as the Vantage but below the DB11 and DBS Superleggera. While most customer cars will likely sell for a higher price thanks to optional extras, the base price is also relatively tame for a super SUV. The DBX will cost more than a base Bentley Bentayga, but less than high-end W12 models. It will also likely undercut the Rolls-Royce Cullinan and Lamborghini Urus. But with 670 horsepower and a base price of $163,510, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid looks like a bargain compared to all of these SUVs.

Recommended Videos

Aston believes wealthy customers will prefer sitting behind the wheel of a DBX over any other high-end SUV. The interior was designed to accommodate a wide range of body types, according to Aston. Engineers and designers spent six months on the driving position alone, Aston claims. The company also invited children to test out the rear seats during development. That attention to detail will yield class-leading front and rear legroom, Aston boasts. While it’s hard to tell from the camouflaged prototypes Aston has running around, the DBX was also designed with expansive side windows to create a feeling of spaciousness, and help give the driver greater outward visibility.

Aston didn’t offer much detail on tech, but a lone interior photo shows a central touchscreen and a digital instrument cluster. The controller for the screen looks a bit like Mercedes-Benz’s trademark touchpad and click wheel combo. Aston borrows engines and electronics from Mercedes, so it’s entirely possible the DBX will use an infotainment system sourced from the German automaker.

We already know the DBX will have a Mercedes engine. It will have the same 4.0-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 used in various Mercedes-AMG performance models, as well as the current Aston Martin Vantage and DB11. In the DBX, the V8 will be tuned to produce 542 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. The top speed hasn’t been finalized, but Aston claims the DBX has hit 180 mph in testing. For reference, the current SUV speed king is the appropriately named Bentley Bentayga Speed, which tops out at 190 mph.

The Aston Martin DBX will be revealed in Beijing on November 20. Order books for Aston’s first SUV will open that day. Aston is bucking tradition in myriad ways, with plans to launch its first electric car and first motorcycle alongside the DBX.

Stephen Edelstein
Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…
Aston Martin goes from four wheels to two with AMB 001 motorcycle
aston martin launches its first motorcycle amb 001 by and brough superior

Previous

Next

Read more
Tesla reveals price range for Optimus Gen2, its ‘robot without wheels’
Tesla's 2022 Optimus robot prototype is seen in front of the company logo.

“The future should look like the future”, CEO Elon Musk said at the Tesla "We Robot" special event held in Burbank, California, earlier this week. Sure enough, Tesla’s much-anticipated autonomous robotaxi, the Cybercab, and its large-van counterpart, the Cybervan, seemed straight out of celebrated sci-fi movies. But as the name of the event hinted at, a vision of the future would not be complete without robots: Several of the Optimus Gen 2, Tesla’s latest version of humanoid-like robot, were found serving drinks, holding conversations with guests, and even dancing at the event.Tesla has recently pitched the Optimus as a potential replacement for factory workers in China and elsewhere. Musk previously said he expects the Optimus to start working at Tesla factories in 2025 and to be available to other firms in 2026.
Yet, at the event, the Tesla boss revealed his expanded vision of a household robot that can do “everything you want: Babysit your kid, walk your dog, mow your lawn, get the groceries, just be your friend, serve drinks”.He also gave a closer estimate of the robot’s price tag: Once produced "at scale," Optimus should cost somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000. Musk had previously said the robot’s price would be about half that of a car. 
Staying true to his sci-fi vision, the Tesla CEO referred to Optimus as a cross between R2D2 and C-3PO, the famous droids from the Star Wars film series.
Ever since the first generation of the Optimus was revealed in 2022, Tesla has emphasized the continuity between its cars and the robot. “Everything that we’ve developed for our cars -- the battery power’s electronics, the advanced motor’s gearboxes, the software, the AI inference computer -- it all actually applies to a humanoid robot,” Musk said at the event. “A robot with arms and legs, instead of a robot with wheels.”
Tesla would not be the first to offer a domestic robot on the market. Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics has already commercialized a home service-type robot called Spot with a hefty price tag of $74,500. BMW and Open AI are backing robots made by Figure, a California-based company. Meanwhile, Nvidia is developing Project GR00T to also deliver humanoid robots.Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs forecast that the annual global market for humanoid robots could reach $38 billion by 2035, with robot shipments of 1.4 million units both for industrial and consumer applications. It also said that robots could become more affordable as their manufacturing cost has been decreasing more than expected -- leading to faster commercialization.

Read more
GM launches PowerBank, a battery that could rival Tesla’s PowerWall
gm launches powerbank a battery that could rival teslas powerwall energy home system bundle

Competition to provide the best energy savings to EV owners is heating up between auto makers.General Motor’s unit GM Energy has just released PowerBank, a stationary energy storage battery pack that gives electric vehicles (EV) owners the ability to store and transfer energy from the electric grid, and allows integration with home solar power equipment.The PowerBank, which comes in 10.6kWh and 17.7kWh battery capacity variants, can power up a home when there is an outage or help offset higher electricity rates during peak demand, GM said. In addition, customers can also use PowerBank to store and use solar energy, supplement the charging of EVs and provide power to a home without an EV being present.GM says that combining two of its 17.7kWh PowerBanks can provide enough energy to power the average American home for up to 20 hours.The PowerBank can be bought as part of two bundles: the GM Energy Storage bundle at $10,999, or the GM Energy Home System bundle at $12,700. The latter includes a bi-directional EV charger that can provide up to 19.2kWh of power. By comparison, Tesla’s energy storage system, PowerWall 3, can store 13.5kWh of energy and has a price tag of $9,300.According to GM Vice President Wade Sheffer, one key advantage of the PowerBank it its “modularity,” which allows for easy integration with existing technology.GM announced in August that it would provide vehicle-to-home (V2H) technology on all its model year 2026 models. It will now also offer vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, which can provide additional energy and financial savings.
Energy savings coming from the integration of electric vehicles, solar-powered homes, and energy grids are increasingly at the center of EV manufacturers' offerings.
Nissan, BMW, Ford, and Honda have grouped together to offer the ChargeScape V2G software, which connects EVs to utilities and the power grid. EV owners can receive financial incentives to pause charging during peak demand or sell energy back to the grid.While Tesla has so far backed off from embracing V2G technology, CEO Elon Musk has hinted that V2G tech could be introduced for Tesla vehicles in 2025.

Read more