Electric Rolls Royce Ghost/Phantom coming?

A Rolls Royce spokesman has said that they are looking at the viability of an electric RR Ghost or RR Phantom.

We’ve got used to one car maker or another rolling out a hybrid or plug in of some description on an almost daily basis. From the stalwarts of electric cars like Reva with the G-Wiz at the bottom end and Tesla at the high end, every other car maker now seems to have an electric car of some description on the way or in the works.

Frankfurt was a very ‘Green’ car show (although we still had new Italian Supercars to look at) with everyone from Reva with the NXR to BMW with the Vision ED Concept looking for a plug socket. And now comes the news that Rolls Royce are getting in on the act.

At Frankfurt the big news for Rolls Royce was the official launch of the RR Ghost. But speaking at a press call at the Goodwood Revival this weekend, a Rolls Royce spokesman let slip that Rolls Royce are looking at the viability of an electric car. An electric Rolls Royce? Seems like a daft idea. But maybe not.

Rolls Royce’s mantra over the years has always been about the silence in a Rolls – “the loudest noise is the clock“. And you don’t get a lot quieter – or more tourqey – than a big electric motor. Range is the concern apparently, but that could be resolved by nicking the 3-pot 1.5 BMW put in their Vision ED concept as range extender. In just the same way as the Jaguar XJ Limo Green is doing with the Lotus Range Extender engine.

We doubt it will happen too soon. And we’d prefer to see a Rolls Royce F-Cell. But it seems a pretty safe bet we’ll see a plug-in Rolls Royce in the next couple of years.

Best we stump up for a nuclear power station building plan now – if we’re all going the plug-in route.