By now, it’s pretty well established that most automakers are phasing out their internal combustion engines and switching over to electrification. With most brands, that switch is pretty gradual, as they have many models that still require piston power. However, with a brand like Rolls-Royce, who has a small lineup of cars and a specific customer base, it can make the switch as suddenly as it wants and it seems that it’s already happened, as the current crop of Rolls-Royce V12s are the last of their kind.
During a recent media drive, Rolls-Royce CEO Törsten Müller-Ötvos told Car Magazine “We also made the decision that this car you could not get electric and combustion. The Spectre is only electric. All future Rolls-Royces, new ones, will be only electric, whilst maintaining what Rolls-Royce stands for. This should be the most dynamic RR ever in history. And it is.”
That’s not to say that existing combustion Rollers will suddenly disappear. Current Phantom, Ghost, and Cullinan models will continue on for the next few years but will eventually be phased out. As those cars reach the ends of their lifecycles, they’ll be replaced with electric cars. Many brands are doing the same thing but, because of the much larger scale, it’s taking quite a bit longer. Rolls’ lineup is small and its sales volume is relatively low, so it can transition its powertrains quicker than larger brands, like BMW.
And for any purist who feels that electrification is bad for Rolls-Royce, or that the brand is somehow worse with electric motors instead of V12s, the founders of Rolls would have disagreed with you. “The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean. There is no smell or vibration, and they should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged. But for now I do not anticipate that they will be very serviceable – at least for many years to come.” said Charles Rolls, co-founder of Rolls-Royce, back in the 1900.
[Source: Car Magazine]
