The infamous Rolls Royce logo
Should we be saying "move over Tessla, make room for the all electric Rolls Royce Phantom?"
Rolls Royce surprisingly announced that, in preparation for the 2012 Olympics in London, there are plans to roll out an all electric version of their Phantom model vehicle. This will not be mass produced, by any standards, but will instead be built for a small fleet of vehicles to transport dignitaries during the Olympics.
According to some calculations made by John Voelcker, Editor in Chief of GreenCarReports.com, assuming the body construction of this vehicle remains very similar to the current Rolls Royce Phantom, the EV will require a battery pack of at least 130 kilowatt hours.
That equals two and a half of the Tesla's 53-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion packs, Or eight of the 16-kWh packs used in the 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range EV, or 81 of the 1.6-kWh nickel-metal-hydride packs in your standard 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid. That's a lot of batteries required to power that vehicle.
Still, as an EV, the Rolls Royce Phantom will reach the pinnacle of a quiet ride, but in reality, no quieter than any other EV on the road.
So, what will this vehicle cost? Not surprisingly, the cost was not disclosed. The 2010 Phantom Sedan, without any options is priced at $380,000. One can only imagine what the Phantom EV will cost with options.
In fact, will any of these vehicles actually be purchased? As a small fleet with a limited scope of use, perhaps they will all be leased out during the Olympics, and then sold as collectors items after the games are over.
At this point, there is no discussion about Rolls Royce continuing production of the all electric Phantom after the Olympics.
It is however a positive statement that the very luxurious vehicles for the very high end car owners are aspiring to go green.
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