Rolls Royce has already confirmed it will be electric-only by the end of 2030, but its iconic V12 engine will be available until then.
“By the end of 2030, there will be no more V12s,” said Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos. Autocar.
“Series 2 [updates of the Ghost, Phantom and Cullinan] will be V12, all-new Rolls-Royces [will] always electric.”
There will be no hybrid powertrain or plug-in hybrid as a bridge to full electrification across the lineup. Rolls-Royce will start producing its first EV, the Specter coupe, later this year.
“We’re not going to have everything, we’re a small company,” Mr Muller-Otvos said.
“We are not out of love with the V12, and we will invest in it to meet new requirements. It’s an interesting change from a V12 to an EV.”
Rolls-Royce has not confirmed when its next electric vehicle will arrive, nor has it said how long its product life cycle will be – although Mr Muller-Otvos told Autocar that the first Phantom lasted 14 years.
He said he expected more vehicles to be operated in very limited numbers, noting this would be done annually with “a maximum of three or four, not 15-20 because this is not a coach build”.
Rolls-Royce revealed the all-electric Specter two-door coupe in October 2022 and expects deliveries for future models to start from the fourth quarter of 2023.
European Automotive News reports demand for the Specter has exceeded expectations and if the trend continues Rolls-Royce could look to ramp up production.
The automaker says the vehicle will be priced between the Cullinan and the Phantom, and so Australians can expect a price tag of around $800,000.
The Specter’s dual-motor all-wheel drive has multiple drives 520 km under the more stringent WLTP cycle, and yield 430kW power and 900Nm of torque.
The claimed 0-100km/h time is 4.5 seconds, despite weighing in at 2975kg.
Sales figures for Rolls-Royce remain strong. In 2022, the automaker’s sales increased by eight percent compared to the previous record of 2021 with 6021 vehicles.
The average car price also rose above €500,000 (A$773,000) for the first time. Mr Muller-Otvos said the accumulated wealth from the Covid era had made the business more “resilient”.
The Cullinan SUV was the best-seller worldwide last year, although the Ghost was the top seller in the Asia-Pacific region.
Rolls-Royce is adamant that the move to electric will not stand in the way of maintaining its premium offering. Of the Spectre, it says it is “Rolls-Royce first and EV second”.