Regulation-driven: Rolls-Royce's conception of pure electric vehicles

Rolls-Royce has jumped on the electrification bandwagon and has already produced its first electric car, but CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos admits that electrification is inevitable if the company wants to continue its current success in the future.

Rolls-Royce is not a company that rushes to achieve quick results. Any decision made by the company is carefully considered, carefully planned and evaluated for accuracy. The CEO of Rolls-Royce feels the pressure of launching important projects all of a sudden. Rolls-Royce has carried out electrification improvements on Cullinan, and the organization is built around this amazing and hand-built V12 internal combustion engine.

Rolls-Royce is now fully prepared and committed to moving towards electrification. In the next 10 years, it will clearly move towards electrification and is already preparing for the next development project, and then step by step make all brand models electrified.

As a testbed, giving owners, VIPs, media and loyal fans the opportunity to experience an already built and alternative drivetrain technology and to provide feedback on their experiences and anxieties, the project has since developed a completely new architecture, Rolls-Royce is ready to embrace pure electric and the brand's commitment to finally abandoning the gasoline engine. For Rolls-Royce customers, electrification is a good fit for the product, with less noise, more power and a better match. In the next 10 years, batteries with longer range will appear, so for Rolls-Royce, it is a very logical development step.

Debut

The Phantom Experimental Electric 102EX first entered the electrification ranks in 2011. This 6.75L V12 gasoline engine is replaced by a high-energy-density lithium-ion battery pack and two electric motors, with a rated power output of 145 kW and a torque of 800 N•m, and an acceleration time of 0-96 km/h within 8 seconds. The 102EX can be used as feedback to determine whether consumers are right about the electrification of the Rolls-Royce brand. In addition, global driving tests have been conducted across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America to evaluate and collect data on the electrified drivetrain technology of future models.

As consumers continue to turn their attention to autonomous driving technology, Rolls-Royce unveiled the 103EX concept car in 2018, providing unique insights into how customers will travel in the future. Rolls-Royce revealed that in the future, consumers can customize their own luxury car, which will be powered by a zero-emission pure electric powertrain. Rolls-Royce's concept statement, through advanced manufacturing technology, can enable consumers to achieve 100% personalized choices for the shape, size and interior of each car.

Extended battery life

Range is an important goal that all electric car manufacturers strive for and an important issue that many potential consumers still have doubts about. Apart from the improvements in battery technology in recent years, this is the first technical issue that Rolls-Royce is keen to solve.

It is undeniable that if more and more car owners get used to the concept of electric vehicles, they will worry less about the range. Rolls-Royce is also discussing a technical blueprint for a future range of more than 400 km, and believes that the range based on this number will be sufficient to meet the needs of consumers. Rolls-Royce customers usually don't drive from London to Edinburgh in one go, they will use other ways to drive or stay along the way. Of course, the infrastructure for these technologies should also be increased.

Facilities are only one aspect of the story, as there seems to be a disconnect with the current charging experience and the typical Rolls-Royce owner. Given the complaints of current electric car owners about charging outside or at busy gas stations, it is hard to imagine how long it would take for a Rolls-Royce to be fully charged in this environment. This will make electric cars an easier sell to traditional Rolls-Royce buyers, many of whom are technology enthusiasts.

There are also some customers who want to keep the current V12 engine because it is quiet and powerful, but if electrification is a perfect match for the brand, it can also be powerful, torquey and environmentally friendly. As long as Rolls-Royce can ensure that the range is good, the charging time is short and the charging process is effortless, the process will be no problem. Rolls-Royce is working on this and has explored many new technologies to ensure it can succeed.

Next generation customers

In early 2019, the BMW Group held its NextGen conference to highlight future technologies, unveil future concepts, and illuminate future trends, with each of the BMW brands revealing plans for the next decade and beyond. Increasing levels of automation go hand in hand with advanced powertrain electrification, which is what Rolls-Royce is aiming for.

Autonomous driving, which is being explored now, like electrification, will be introduced when it becomes available to Rolls-Royce, so when we talk about the whole Level 4 or higher state, when it becomes truly autonomous for customers, we still have to remember that all customers still have the right to drive manually.

Although still very traditional in their buying habits, the average age of the current Rolls-Royce customer base is falling year on year, and the brand must respond to changing tastes. The latest generation of cars benefits from the latest infotainment and connectivity technology developed by BMW.

It is said that the production line at Goodwood, which involves a lot of hand-made and highly specialized processes, underwent an important technological transformation in 2017 when it switched from a dual-line to a single line. The idea of ​​electrification is not a sudden inspiration. Rolls-Royce has fully considered this, and its first new luxury structure design matched on Cullinan includes an electrified structure. Moreover, when converting the production line from a dual-line system to a single-line system, Rolls-Royce considered what might be needed and was ready to go the road of pure electrification. So when Rolls-Royce released its first electric car, it considered some adjustments based on the production line.

A sustainable future

The technical adjustment towards electrification and the latest in-car technology can be a marathon, not something that can be accomplished overnight. It’s not that the famous British brand hasn’t been keeping up with the latest innovations. Muller Otvos’ team at Goodwood is working on more “craft fibres” for interiors, while the 2016 Vision Next100 concept car dabbled in silk, plush and exotic woods, while also showcasing a cockpit that used a giant organic light-emitting semiconductor (OLED) screen and embedded interactive technology before its design required it. However, Rolls-Royce customers have mentioned that there is no requirement for Rolls-Royce to ensure that its vehicles are sustainable or have environmentally friendly features.

When discussing sustainability, it is important to recall that 75% of the Rolls-Royces produced in its 115-year history are still on the road, providing consumers with a sign of quality in materials and engineering. These features will also be present in today's models. In an industry where shared mobility, ride sharing and alternative forms of transportation are often mentioned on the agenda of Rolls-Royce. Consumers will see different modes of transportation, the ultra-luxury market will flourish, and the rest of the landscape around the car is still changing.

The next 10 years will be a challenging time for many car manufacturers, but Rolls-Royce is ready to take on the challenge. The automotive industry has had a very unusual 10 years, and Rolls-Royce will follow the future development trend and confirm that the brand will continue to exist, so it must adopt electrification. Although there are not many customers inquiring about electric vehicles at present, Rolls-Royce will continue to explore this path to ensure the brand's continued success in the future. It is said that as early as the 1790s, Charles Rolls and Henry Royce still had common parts in many electric vehicle projects, so battery-powered models are still expected.