Luxury car buyers are voting with their wallets and influencing big change within some of the industry’s most iconic brands, with Rolls-Royce the latest marque to announce its EV-only plans are dead.
Rolls-Royce only launched its first EV, the Spectre, in 2022, but its then-CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos said the brand would only sell EVs by the end of 2030, signalling the end of its engine-powered products.
As reported by The Times, his replacement Chris Brownridge has thrown out those plans, following massive legislative changes with regards to vehicle emissions globally, as well as the V12-led desires of Rolls-Royce’s customers.
“For every client that loves an electric vehicle there is one who does not,” Brownridge told The Times.
“Some clients do want an electric vehicle, we build what is ordered.
“The legislation has changed. That prediction was based on a different set of circumstances. We recognise some clients would rather have a V12 engine. The V12 is part of our history.”
Some of those changes to legislation include the European Union ditching its plans to ban all new petrol and diesel-powered vehicles from showrooms by 2035.
Instead, carmakers will need to reduce their fleet emissions by 90 per cent compared to 2021 levels before the start of 2035, giving a new lease on life to hybrids, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and extended-range EVs (EREVs or REEVs), while not totally dismissing the role of EVs and FCEVs to achieve the still stringent requirements.
In the US, the Trump Administration has effectively taken away financial penalties for carmakers who exceed increased emissions limits.
While the UK Government, which independently has its own petrol and diesel engine ban coming in 2035, hasn’t announced a change to this pathway, it’s likely to largely mirror Europe’s recent policy change.
Rolls-Royce is yet to add another EV to its lineup, leaving the Spectre as its sole model not powered by a V12 engine.
Currently, the Rolls-Royce Phantom, Ghost and Cullinan are all powered by a twin-turbo 6.75-litre V12 engine, made exclusively for Rolls-Royce by BMW.
In January, BMW development head Dr Joachim Post said the German brand won’t kill off V12s, at least not for its luxury marque Rolls-Royce.
“We can fulfil Euro 7 with some optimisation in the exhaust system – with things like the catalysts – so that’s why we have a big advantage in that Euro 7 is not that high an investment for us,” Post told Autocar, specifically referring to the V12 available in the Rolls-Royce lineup.
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