Thanks to VW and Mercedes and BMW, the combustion engine-powered vehicle is a dead man walking. By 2030 major cities around the world will introduce a ban on diesel and petrol (gasoline) cars. To prepare for this new era many car manufacturers are adopting hybrid and plugin hybrid technologies to reduce emissions. However, even this hybridized vehicle architecture is under emissions scrutiny. And it may well be the case that both are eventually included in the 2030 ban.

In a recent media interview the boss of Rolls Royce, Torsten Muller-Otvos, said that Rolls Royce will skip hybrids for fully electric powertrains. The pure electric Rolls Royce is currently in development and will be introduced before the end of the decade.

“…electric power fits perfectly with the brand. It’s silent and torquey and that is the reason to go directly from combustion to electrification,” said Torsten Muller-Otvos.

The Rolls EV will be built on an aluminum spaceframe architecture currently used for the Wraith and Dawn and could well replace both in due course. The company’s decision to introduce a pure electric Rolls Royce is being driven by legislation rather than customer demand.

Rolls Royce debuted the 102EX pure electric concept in 2011, however, work on the project stalled. Rolls Royce is of the opinion that it’s customers should not have to manually perform the task of plugging-in cables to recharge the car. The company is working on a robotic charging-arm solution.

The V12 combustion engine will continue to play a core part of the Rolls Royce product until the end of the decade. Beyond 2030, the V12 era may well be phased out entirely.