Electric Rolls Royce back in play – hybrid RR imminent

It looks like an electric Rolls Royce is back in play as RR look to keep up with market trends and a hybrid Rolls looks imminent.

At the Geneva Motor Show in 2011, Rolls Royce turned up with the 102EX, an electric Rolls Royce that looked like it could be the future of RR cars.

It came with a pair of motors rated at 145 kWH and a battery bank that weighed as much as a small moon, but even then the 102EX only managed to produce 380bhp and get to 62mph in 8 seconds although, despite the Phantom’s not inconsiderable size, it had a range of 125 miles.

Rolls Royce declared they would be taking the electric Phantom round the world during 2011 to garner customer feedback, but within three months they decided not to bother with the idea after all.

At the time, RR said not a single customer had ever asked them for an EV RR and that they had decided to scrap plans, but they might consider a hybrid Rolls.

Now, three years on, it seems Rolls may be having a change of heart on EVs and have told Auto Express that an electric Rolls Royce encompasses all that customers want – quiet, effortless power in silence – as long as they can provide decent range. So it’s back under consideration.

But what is happening is a hybrid Rolls Royce, with CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos stating a plug-in hybrid Rolls Royce is essential by 2016.

Which, we assume, will mean an electric Rolls Royce Ghost with a plug-in hybrid powerplant straight from the BMW 7 Series.