Rolls-Royce Confirms Electric Vehicle, New Model Silent Shadow

CEO Oliver Zipse stated at BMW's last annual meeting that the business will provide an electric vehicle: "From the compact class to the ultra-luxury category, 90 % of segments are covered. Rolls-Royce is BMW's super-luxury brand, and the new Silent Shadow is expected to be its first production EV. It'll most possibly be a sedan rather than an SUV, as it'll be a whole new model in the brand's lineup."

The styling will be influenced by the crazy 103EX autonomous EV concept car from 2016 though we expect carryover aspects to be limited to particular details and the vehicle to be designed and proportioned in a more conventional Rolls-Royce style.

Rolls-Royce first proposed an electric vehicle a decade ago with the 102EX concept, a fully electric seventh-generation Phantom, but its wealthy clients were uninterested. Rolls-Royce executives were also quoted as claiming last year that there is still no customer demand for electric ultra-luxury automobiles, even though governments all over the world are pressing the issue.

Despite the fact that the twin-turbo V-12 engine behind the modern automobiles' large hoods still conveys prestige, it is losing favor with air quality inspectors and the growing number of ecologically conscious consumers. When Silent Shadow debuts, it will be the first Rolls-Royce to offer an engine other than a 12-cylinder in more than 2 decades.

Fortunately for Rolls-Royce, EV technology has progressed much since the 102EX's 124-mile range. Although the new Silent Shadow will be based on Rolls' proprietary aluminum Architecture of Luxury, it is expected to share a lot of research and EV technology with the impending electric model of the next BMW 7 Series, which could be named i7.

Both utilize EV technology from the new BMW i4 EV sedan and iX SUV, including their in-house-built electric motors, as a basic building block. According to claims, Silent Shadow has a battery capacity of more than 100 kWh and a range of more than 300 miles. The estimated price is $380,000, and it will be available for purchase in the summer of 2022.