Long-haul flights, tons of guns and a bagpipe flamethrower: such are the special demands of his career that James Bond has never been considered a poster boy for an eco-friendly lifestyle. But next year’s 25th Bond film looks set to have Ian Fleming’s hero make his first concession to climate change, by driving an electric Aston Martin – albeit one which retails at £250,000.

According to reports, the film – whose working title of Shatterhand was recently debunked – will see Daniel Craig’s 007 behind the wheel of an Aston Martin Rapide E, one of only 155 electric cars being built by the British manufacturer.

The Sun reports that director Cary Joji Fukunaga has spearheaded the change, with their source describing him as “a total tree-hugger”.

“This is something Cary pushed for and Daniel and the producers are going along with. Everybody is afraid of Bond getting labelled ‘too PC’ but they all felt the time was right to put him in a zero-emission vehicle.”

Aston Martin’s relationship with the spy franchise began in 1964, when Sean Connery drove a DB5 sports car in Goldfinger.

Shooting on the new film is expected to start in April, after a series of delays involving the replacement of Danny Boyle as director following reported “creative differences” between he and producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson.

No more has officially been revealed as to the nature of such differences, but many suggested Boyle and his long-standing co-writer, John Hodge, were eager to bring Bond up to date with a plot including nods to the #MeToo movement – and, potentially, 007’s own death.

More recently, last-minute script alterations pushed the release date back a further three months, to April 2020. Rami Malek – who won an Oscar last month for his performance as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody – is reported to be in final negotiations to take on the role of the chief villain.

The Guardian has contacted distributors Universal for comment.