In the automotive world we live in every automaker has at least two things going for them. The first is that each one has their own calling card. We love the athleticism of BMW, the sheer awesome power of Ferrari, the volume quantities of Toyota and certainly the “in your face” nature of our or domestic models. The second thing every automaker has is a need and desire to continually compete in regards to technology and advancements in engineering. Toyota brought us the Prius and looks how many more hybrids have come about, Tesla has an all-electric lineup that doesn’t use gasoline generators for backups and there are already other companies doing the exact same thing.
In the automotive world the copycat or one-upsmanship mentality is part of our culture and even the most dignified and out of reach brands soon falls victim to the need of offering the technology that is current on the market. IF they didn’t, we would continually have cars that utilize no computerizations and aren’t offered with the infotainment systems we enjoy, which would eventually cause the automakers to disappear into oblivion to be forever forgotten.
Such is the case with EV technology. It seems nearly every automaker is working to bring at least one EV to market and those that are serious about the EV platform offer several to give us lots of choices we can make. The one automaker you might think would not be affected by the need for an EV version would be Rolls-Royce, but they have actually shown us an EV model as near ago as at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, which is significant as it lets us see they are trying to bring an EV to market for their customer base to fully enjoy.
The challenge for a brand as highly lauded as Rolls-Royce is the fact it has an extremely fickle customer base. The model offered in 2011 was called the 102EX concept and it had a pair of 194-horsepower electric motors and a 71 kWh batter which gave it a range of 124 moles. This would be fine for a customer that wants to stay near home, but for those who want the ability to drive more than sixty miles in one direction this want get the job done, but it certainly shows an effort that is being given by Rolls-Royce.
The range and power of their EV cars is actually what is holding them back to this point. The direction Rolls- Royce is headed will likely be similar to Tesla in an effort to offer an EV model with enough range to last nearly an entire day of driving with plenty to spare and a charging time that is extremely short. This challenge alone certainly leads us to believe they will continue to work on the solution, but an EV model Rolls-Royce is not anywhere in our very near future, but will eventually be part of the equation; reminding us that no automaker is above the competition of new technology.
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