Rolls-Royce plans to go fully electric in 2030

Rolls-Royce has announced that it will no longer build or sell cars with combustion engines from 2030. The luxury British brand belonging to BMW, will thus also become a purely electric car manufacturer. Fittingly, Rolls-Royce provided a brief preview of its first electric model.

+ + Kindly see our update below + +

The debut electric car from Rolly-Royce Motor Cars will be called Spectre and deliveries are to start in 2023. The British luxury carmaker has not yet revealed any technical data. The luxury saloon is currently being prepared for “imminent road tests”. CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös emphasises that it is not a prototype: “It is a real vehicle that will be tested in public and that our customers will take delivery of for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2023.” The Spectre is expected to cover 2.5 million test kilometres by the time it goes into production.

The outlook for the electric saloon comes as no surprise. Müller-Ötvös had already confirmed the development of the debut EV at the end of May – at the time, however, still under the name Silent Shadow. The luxury brand had already shown a concept car for the year 2040 in 2016 with the 103EX. Instead of the traditional V12 engine, this had an electric drive in the futuristically designed body. Since then, Rolls-Royce had repeatedly said that the quiet and powerful electric drive fitted very well with the character of the luxury cars.

Rolls-Royce has confirmed earlier reports that the electric luxury car will be based on the Phantom’s platform. The manufacturer says: “We have been able to integrate our plans for an electric powertrain into the original architectural design and ensure that this exceptional new product meets the extremely high expectations of our customers.” In terms of powertrain technology, an earlier report said there would be shared components with the BMW i7.

BMW confirmed in March 2020 that the upcoming generation of the 7 Series will also be launched as an all-electric model. Technical data on this has not yet been officially confirmed by the manufacturer. Reports from April 2020 assume 250 kW in the base model and between 480 and 500 kW in the top model – with “at least two electric motors”.

Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös describes the Spectre as the first representative of a new electric era for the luxury brand. “With this new product, we set out our credentials for the full electrification of our entire product portfolio by 2030. By then, Rolls-Royce will no longer be in the business of producing or selling any internal combustion engine products.”

Update 2 October 2021:

Rolls-Royce’s first all-electric model, to be launched under the name Spectre from the end of 2023, will be equipped with battery cells from Samsung SDI, according to a report by Business Korea. Rolls-Royce is part of the BMW Group, which had recently increased its orders for battery cells for use in electric cars – among others from Samsung SDI.

press.rolls-roycemotorcars.com, rolls-roycemotorcars.com, businesskorea.co.kr