Rolls Royce joins luxury carmakers turning high-end vehicles electric
High-end electric vehicles signal the start of the green revolution hitting the luxury market, beginning with the surprisingly electric-friendly, limousine.
Few cars are as beautifully suited to the electric revolution as limousines; vehicles in which silent running has always been the goal.
Electric motors provide an effortless surge when taking off and have the sort of refinement an internal-combustion engine can’t come close to.
They’re almost silent, too, helping reinforce the cabin serenity that is the goal of any limousine.
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Sure, the relative lack of fast-charging infrastructure means an EV limo may not be able to glide between Brisbane and Melbourne as effortlessly as something fuelled by petrol, but most people who can shell out a few hundred thousand on a luxury saloon will probably be sitting at the pointy end of a plane for those interstate hops.
The Mercedes-Benz EQS is testament to the demand for high-end EVs, making up almost one-third of the brand’s limousine sales in 2022, its first year in the market.
The AMG-fettled 53 model with two electric motors makes a monstrous 484kW of power and 950Nm of torque, more than the 463kW/900Nm from the 6.0-litre V12 version of the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class.
The V8 models also don’t get close to the EV. The EQS scorches to 100km/h in as little as 3.4 seconds, which is more than a second faster than the flagship limousine with one of the world’s biggest and most advanced petrol engines.
Little wonder the brands responsible for the world’s niche but image-conscious supply of lengthy exotica are fast adopting electricity.
BMW recently unleashed its i7 EV to complement the 7-Series that has long sat at the top of the brand’s line-up. Audi has also given a glimpse of the electrified future for its limousine with the Grandsphere concept.
Rolls-Royce has committed to drop its V8 and V12 engines, which have long defined the pinnacle of luxury, instead shifting to an all-EV range. In confirming that every new Rolls-Royce sold by the end of 2030 would be electric, Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös describes it as a “bold new future with a huge advantage”.
“Electric drive is uniquely and perfectly suited to Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, more so than any other automotive brand,” he says.
“It is silent, refined and creates torque almost instantly, going on to generate tremendous power. This is what we at Rolls-Royce call ‘waftability’.”
Rolls rival Bentley – part of the giant Volkswagen Group, alongside Audi and Lamborghini – is set to follow suit and will begin rolling out battery electric versions of its luxury performance vehicles from 2025.
All of which marks the beginning of the end for 12-cylinder engines in luxury applications.
Sure, Ferrari and Lamborghini may continue with the iconic layout – in part for its intoxicating sound – but BMW and others are walking away from the sizeable and complex engine layout. Not that anyone being driven in an electric limousine is likely to have much of an issue. Instead, they’ll experience something even quieter and faster – all with the knowledge that they can complete the trip without emitting any CO2.
Cars get cheaper as key costs fall Cheaper cars as costs fall
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Can battery metals be sourced sustainably?
What are the environmental costs behind sourcing the metals for the batteries that power our electric vehicles?