‘ Rolls-Royce ’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ very rarely show up in the same sentence, but the luxury marque is eyeing some very green tech for its Phantom sedan. If Rolls-Royce CEO Tom Purves has his way, electric Phantoms could be trolling the world’s motorways in just a few years.
A large percentage of Rolls-Royce buyers actually use their cars almost exclusively for city driving, so an all-electric Phantom would make sense. “Many of our customers do small mileages exclusively in the city,” Purves told Car Magazine. “For these customers, an electric Rolls-Royce would be ideal.”
An electric Phantom could even gel with Rolls-Royce ’s typical clientele. An electric motor offers gobs of torque – a historic Rolls-Royce trait — from zero RPM’s and would also lend to even quieter operation.
But more than just a means of better customer satisfaction, Rolls-Royce might be forced to offer an electric Phantom in order to compete in certain global markets. Several regions are toying with the idea of CO2 limits, which would prevent Rolls-Royce from even being able to sell their cars in certain parts of the world. “We may need an electric car merely to sell in certain parts of the world,” Purves said.
Rolls-Royce hasn’t yet announced a time frame for its electric car, but an electric Phantom might not be too far off. MINI – which is housed under the same BMW corporate umbrella as Rolls-Royce – will unveil and all-electric version of its Cooper at next month’s LA Auto Show, which uses a lithium-ion system that could be easily up-sized to power the Phantom. But even if Rolls-Royce does offer a super green version of its Phantom, expect the company to still offer a V12-powered version.
