Rolls-Royce has confirmed it is working on its first electric car. According to CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös, the future electric car will be called Silent Shadow, although the luxury carmaker has not yet revealed information on the technical specifications or the market launch.
In 2016, the luxury brand belonging to BMW displayed a concept car for the year 2040, with the 103EX. Instead of the traditional V12 engine, it had an electric drive in a futuristically designed body.
Since then, Rolls-Royce has repeatedly emphasised that the quiet and powerful drive fitted very well with the character of the luxury limousines.
“Electrification fits perfect with Rolls-Royce — it’s torquey, it’s super-silent,” said Torsten Müller-Ötvös. “We are not known for roaring loud engines and exhaust noises whatsoever, and that is a big benefit.”
The name Silent Shadow is derived from the Silver Shadow, which Rolls-Royce built between 1965 and 1980. The name is also supposed to make it clear that it will not be a rebadged version of an existing model, but a car in its own right.
However, the Silent Shadow will reportedly be based on the Phantom’s platform, which the manufacturer describes as an “Architecture of Luxury”. The drive technology will share components with the BMW i7, which will likely fulfil an important criterion Müller-Ötvös has mentioned previously.
“It is important for us to use mature technology. Because our customers don’t want to experiment in this segment,” he said in 2017. “They expect the very highest quality and reliability from a Rolls-Royce in particular. That is fundamental for the brand. That’s why we don’t implement a new technology until we are absolutely sure.”
In March 2020, BMW confirmed that the upcoming generation of the 7 Series will also be launched as one of its series of electric vehicles, although technical data on this has not yet been officially confirmed. Reports from April 2020 assume 250 kW in the base model and between 480 and 500 kW in the top model – with “at least two electric motors”.
