After a few years of throwing around ideas for an eco-friendly model, Rolls Royce will finally be adopting plug in technology. A March 5 article from autoexpress.co.uk describes what their writer Paul Bond was able to learn from Torsten Müller-Otvos, CEO of Rolls Royce when they spoke with him at the 2014 Geneva International Motor Show.
According to the article, Müller-Otvos revealed that a plug-in hybrid will be in the works in the near future. “It will be essential in two years,” he told Bond, “maybe not from customer demand, but through legal regulation on emissions.”
Though the marque introduced a fully electric vehicle at the 2011 Geneva International Motor Show, the 102EX Phantom, it was a concept that never made it to production. “We showed that car to around 100 customers around the world, and the reaction we got was ambivalent,” Müller-Otvos said. “A Rolls-Royce cannot come with any kind of compromise, and both the recharging times and the range were not acceptable for our buyers – but with hybrid technology that is no longer a problem.”
However, with the exceptional technology implemented, autoexpress.co.uk wondered if the price for the next-generation Phantom would increase to around £450,000 “to reflect the increased cost of this kind of technology.”
When asked about the price increase, Müller-Otvos replied, “It is never a question of not having enough to afford a Rolls-Royce, but our customers are shrewd business people, and they want to know what they are getting for their money. For that reason I think for the next car we will stay in the same position in the market – which has been so successful for us so far.”
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(Source: AutoExpress.co.uk)
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