The Rolls-Royce V-12 Will Soldier On Until the Brand is Forced to Go All-Electric

Rolls-Royce does not want to discontinue the V-12, and I will tell you why. Leasing a car is improvisation. Buying a house and putting it under a mortgage is improvisation. Taking a bank loan to finish school is improvisation. Taking a cab is improvisation. Melding your own broken TV remote is improvisation. Having a dinner in an expensive restaurant to impress a girl is improvisation. Driving a hybrid is improvisation.

Rolls-Royce isn’t about improvisation. It is about the exact opposite - about genuinity. Something only a handful can experience, acquire, and actually live. Like it always was.

And for those select few, the world of regulations, melting ice caps, water supply problems in equatorial countries, and possible fuel shortages aren’t really that big of a deal. Rolls-Royce deals with those kinds of people. Exclusively! Those kinds of people want and need a V-12. They will have it - for as long as the ICE is a big deal. When it stops being a big deal, Rolls-Royce will do what is only logical - switch to electricity.

Rolls-Royce Will Keep The V-12 Alive For As Long As Possible

Before I get to that once again, let me tell you what the average Cullinan buyer thinks about. - “Am I noticeable enough?”

“Are there any more Cullinans in my immediate vicinity?” (their immediate vicinity is like 100 miles in each direction, because, well, money. Limitations are basically nonexistent.

You don’t believe me? Let me quote Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Otvös:

“Customers will tell you the same thing that I am telling you, that they expect from us limitation. Limitation in volume. They don’t want to see their own cars all over the place. And they are more than happy to pay our prices, make no error. They are clear: ‘Don’t go volume, please.’ Müller-Otvös concluded, “We aren’t going to, ever.”

That alone, however surprising as it may seem, isn’t actually profitable enough to make Rolls Royce the technological sweetheart of the world.

This role is reserved for BMW - it is the one who provides EV systems, it develops them in the first place. As it turns out, Rolls-Royce would not even be capable of developing such sophisticated systems without its father figure - BMW.

"It’s great that BMW Group is so forward-looking and -thinking on iNext and so on," commented Müller-Otvös. "I’m glad that I’m part of the bigger group because we profit from that. Our engineers are embedded enough in the overall organization to grab into the shelf and say, ‘That’s great, we’ll use that for Rolls-Royce.’"

Rolls-Royce Will Not Offer a Hybrid

Furthermore, in his talk with a Blomberg journalist, Rolls-Royce CEO directly commented on the RR electrification plan:

"We will not do hybrids or whatever. Our proposition is full electric. It will come in the next decade, step by step by step.”

Obviously, then, no hybrids whatsoever.

A V-8 then, for the Cullinan?

Nope! Rolls-Royce is so exclusive that a V-8 in the Cullinan would be like downsizing and “Volume-chasing.” That is not what Rolls-Royce stands for. It never did.

As far as Rolls-Royce electric future goes, we actually saw glimpses of it with the 103EX concept car. Serenity is the only word that comes to my mind when thinking about that RR concept. It even has an AI system. With an amazing name at that - Eleanor! RR is cool like that.

Conclusion

In a strange world of utmost luxury, there is no space for cutting corners or any sort of improvisation. Adding electric motors, unnecessary batteries and what not, to already massive cars wouldn't exactly be smart. So, RR won't compromise any of the driving dynamics, any of the soothing V-12 allure or any of the comfort to conform to some rules, regulations, or trends. The V-12 will soldier on for as long as it is feasible. Then, the electric propulsion will take over, possibly with Eleanor, the autonomous driving AI assistant.