Rolls-Royce has confirmed the name of its next model, expected to be its first all-electric vehicle, though it hasn’t confirmed when it’ll launch.
Bloomberg reports it’ll wear a nameplate that’s certainly befitting of an electric Rolls: Silent Shadow.
Rolls-Royce has previously said it’ll launch its first all-electric car “by 2030” and hasn’t given any more clarity as to when we should see it.
“That is still a secret,” Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Mueller-Otvos said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
“But it will of course obviously be a brand-new Rolls-Royce, rest assured.”
Rolls-Royce Ghost
While Rolls-Royce’s current line-up is powered by a twin-turbocharged V12 engine, Muller-Otvos says a battery-electric powertrain won’t be as radical a departure as it looks on paper.
“Electrification fits perfect with Rolls-Royce – it’s torquey, it’s super-silent,” said Mueller-Otvos.
“We are not known for roaring loud engines and exhaust noises whatsoever, and that is a big benefit.”
The company has already filed a trademark for the Silent Shadow name, which brings to mind the old Silver Shadow and sticks with Rolls’ spooky, ethereal naming conventions (Phantom, Wraith, Seraph, etc).
Rolls-Royce Phantom
Muller-Otvos stopped short of confirming the Silent Shadow would be the brand’s first all-electric vehicle, the company has previously spoken of the need to introduce an electric Rolls.
The company’s first electric car will be based on the aluminium spaceframe architecture underpinning the Phantom limousine, Cullinan crossover, and the recently-redesigned Ghost sedan.
A spokesperson for the super-luxury automaker said development of the upcoming EV was being driven not by current demand, but by the prospect of councils across Europe banning cars from using their internal-combustion engine in city centres.
“We need to be in a position to sell them a car if legislation forbids them from driving a combustion engine car into the center of a city,” the spokesperson told Automotive News Europe.
Rolls-Royce has so far only displayed one electric concept car, the 102EX (pictured here) unveiled in 2011.
Based on the contemporary Phantom, the 102EX had a pair of electric motors on the rear axle making a total of 290kW and 800Nm.
Its 0-60mph (0-97km/h) time was said to be under eight seconds, considerably slower than the V12 Phantom’s 5.7s sprint.
Its biggest downside — and reportedly the reason development was stopped — was its range, at just 200km.
