Electric Rolls-Royce?

Rolls-Royce is seriously considering building electric versions of its cars, probably as plug-in hybrids, as a hedge against any possible future ban on big-engined saloons in urban areas.

The company’s new CEO, Tom Purvis, says the company needs to prepare itself for much-tougher inner-city CO2 legislation, and believes that the near-silence of electric propulsion, and the fact that full torque is available from a standstill, would align perfectly with Rolls-Royce’s core values.

He also said that many owners would find the notion of an electric Rolls “very cool.”

“When you study how our cars are used by their owners, you soon see that they either do huge open-road mileages, or relatively small distances in urban areas,” Purvis said, “an electric Rolls-Royce would be ideal for the second category.”

Purvis believes the technical expertise the BMW group has already amassed in producing its forthcoming electric Mini will greatly reduce the time it will take to engineer a new plug-in Rolls if the decision is taken to green-light the project. But he insists that engineering and market research are yet to begin.