Aston Martin’s road to electrification took a major step last week when CEO Andy Palmer officially unveiled the automaker’s first production battery for the upcoming RapidE electric car. The battery will run the 800-volt system, which, according to Palmer, is likely to be the first of its kind in the industry once the RapidE goes into production in 2019. If that timetable holds, Aston Martin expects to deliver around 155 units of the RapidE before the end of next year.

Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer didn’t divulge the full specs of the first production battery for the RapidE, but you can tell where he was going. The Aston Martin RapidE has been in development for some years now — the concept version first showed up in 2015 — and in that time, the electric car has gone through a lot of changes, most notably Aston Martin’s battery partner in the project. The British automaker initially partnered with Chinese company LeEco, but that partnership fizzled when the latter went belly up. From there, Williams Advanced Engineering — Aston’s partner in developing the RapidE concept — returned to give Aston Martin a helping hand in the development of the RapidE's battery technology.

The photo Palmer tweeted is likely the result of that partnership. Palmer indicated that more information about the battery will come when the time is right, but he did add that kinetic energy and regenerative braking will also be included in the RapidE’s full, all-electric package.

He also said that part of Aston Martin’s goal for the RapidE involves giving the EV “the ability to have usable performance for laps at the Nurburgring, and a top speed of 155 mph.” Whether these things happen or not remains to be seen, but with Palmer tweeting a photo of the car’s first production battery, we at least know that Aston Martin is one step closer to finally launching the RapidE after years of research and development.

Once it’s out on the market, the RapidE is expected to cater to buyers who are looking for an EV that sits above anything Tesla has produced. That’s a high bar to set, particularly for a company that’s still, in theory at least, dipping its toes in this new segment. But the RapidE is far from just a concept now; it’s actually happening. We know precious little about it other than reports that it will have 800 horsepower and around 200 miles of range.

But for what it’s worth, we won’t mind waiting a bit more for the car for as long as Aston Martin ensures that when it does hit the market in 2019, it’s going to live up to all the hype it’s been generating in the last few years.

Further reading

Read our full review on the 2016 Aston Martin RapidE.

Read more Aston Martin news.