British sports car manufacturer Aston Martin is negotiating a joint venture agreement with Chinese technology group LeEco for building its first electronic sports car.

The car proposed to be developed through this joint venture is being referred to as "Rapid E." Market Watch reports that Rapid E is an electric prototype version of Aston Martin's Rapid S series, which was unveiled in October 2015. Aston Martin is targeting production of Rapid E cars by 2018. The car shall be built at Aston Martin's Gaydon factory in United Kingdom. According to India Today, Rapid E is expected to combine both luxury and eco-friendliness.

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Aston Martin is a sports car brand popularly associated with James Bond series. Aston Martin's CEO Andy Palmer announced its partnership with LeEco at a joint news conference in Frankfurt, Germany.

Citing Palmer, India Today reports that Aston Martin has announced its commitment to developing next generation cars with low emission technologies. There is an anticipation that present joint venture agreement between Aston Martin and LeEco may be extended to future low emission projects.

It should be noted that Aston Martin had already previously collaborated with LeEco in developing in-car entertainment system for its Rapid S cars.

LeEco was formerly known as LeTV. It is a Chinese firm producing a range of products that include smart gadgets, Internet TV, video production and distribution, Internet linked electric cars and large screen appliances connected to e-commerce and agriculture. Wikipedia lists LeEco as first Chinese company to head concept of ecosystem products.

According to numerous reports, the founder of LeEco - Yueting Jia - has made investments in many electric car ventures. LeEco is the primary backer of Faraday, which is planning to build an electric car by 2017. While Aston Martin has confirmed that it is not working with Faraday so far, it has said in a statement that there is a possibility that all three companies may work together in the future.