Hybrid powertrains are taken as a mid-way between the IC engine powered vehicles and all-electric vehicles. Most of the automakers are switching to hybrids before going totally electric. However, Rolls-Royce doesn’t want to stay in the middle. It’s either this side or that for the luxury car maker.
At the North American launch of company’s first ever SUV Cullinan, Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Otvös told Bloomberg that they will not build anything like a hybrid car. And when the time comes, the company will have all-electric cars in its portfolio.
“There is an electric future for Rolls-Royce. We have not made our plan about what comes first, and what comes when, but we know that we will go full electric. We will not do hybrids or whatever. Our proposition is full electric. It will come in the next decade, step by step by step,” he said.
Torson also expressed the company’s willingness to keep the large engines until there is no choice. Also, there is no chance that Rolls will build smaller engines to have relatively cheaper variants of its models. “That is for the pure sake of volume, and that is what we are not doing. We are not launching lower engines with lower price points. This is volume-chasing. That’s not the game of Rolls-Royce. We stay highly exclusive” he said. “I can also tell you we will stick with our beloved 12-cylinder as long as we can.”
For the electric future, Torson is also optimistic to get assistance from their parent company BMW Group. “The BMW Group is more than happy to help. Otherwise we would not be capable to get our brand electrified. If we would need to do that on our own, completely alone, that’s quite a task.” he says.
What’s worth mentioning here is that Torsten Müller-Otvös is the same man who a few years ago clearly stated that he does not see an electric Rolls-Royce because “A Rolls-Royce can’t be a compromise.”
Source: Bloomberg
