Rolls-Royce is going all in: its first all-electric super-luxury car will arrive before 2030

Major brands are experimenting with electrifying their line-ups, from mild and full hybridisation through to full battery electrification. The time has come to make a decision, because many cities around the world are announcing that they will ban petrol and diesel vehicles from their city centres. So it is only a matter of time before all manufacturers shift towards electrification.

Rolls-Royce was reluctant to make that change in its powertrains, so it has been external companies that have worked to create these kinds of versions of the brand’s cars, as is the case with Lunaz, which has converted several classic models into electric variants. But the moment has arrived and the British brand has decided to take the step: fully electric models are coming.

From internal combustion to electric

While many brands have evolved gradually and introduced hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions as a bridge between both technologies, Rolls-Royce is going to skip that step and move directly to building electric models. The expected date for the arrival of this electric model is still a mystery, although the Goodwood-based marque is aiming for a launch within this decade.

For the moment, Rolls-Royce is in no hurry to launch this model, because owners of its cars are not demanding this solution immediately. They feel comfortable with a combustion engine, so it is not something that needs to happen straight away. But the future city-centre traffic restrictions on these models make a change necessary in the manufacturer’s mindset.

This first electric model will possibly replace the Rolls-Royce Wraith and Rolls-Royce Dawn, which are nearing the end of their useful life and could be replaced by this electric model. No details are known about Rolls-Royce’s plans to shape that electric model, so we will have to wait a little to find out what the super-luxury marque has in store for us.

In 2011 it showed us an electricity-powered concept car at the Geneva Motor Show, but the technology was not yet ready to be incorporated into Rolls-Royce’s range. It repeated the exercise with the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100, also known as 103EX, which presented a rather striking image that, at first, will have nothing to do with this future electric model. For now, we must wait and see what the British manufacturer, whose name has always been synonymous with super-luxury vehicles, surprises us with next.