Rolls-Royce Announces Plans to Go All-Electric By 2030

The British luxobarge maker kicks off an electrified era with the Spectre two-door coupe.

By the decade’s end, Rolls-Royce will have cycled out sales of internal combustion engines in favor of all-electric powertrains.

“With this new product, we set out our credentials for the full electrification of our entire product portfolio by 2030,” Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös said in an announcement.

“By then, Rolls-Royce will no longer be in the business of producing or selling any internal combustion engine products.”

The first Spirit of Ecstasy-topped BEV will come long before 2030 in the Spectre—seen here camouflaged by bold, shimmering slogans. 

Due out in the fourth quarter of 2023, the mysterious two-door coupe is based on the aluminum architecture that debuted in the Phantom in 2017.

More details about the Spectre are scant, but Müller-Ötvös has confirmed with Car and Driver that the performance of any Rolls EV would need to match what’s offered by the luxobarge brand’s current V12. 

Rolls’ 6.75-liter twin-turbocharged 12-pot produces 563 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. Those figures swell to 600 horsepower and 664 pound-feet in top-shelf Black Badge rides. 

Given that the marque’s parent company BMW just launched the likely smaller iX xDrive50 electric SUV with 516 horsepower, there’s no reason to think that a Rolls EV won’t be able to surpass its current Black Badge models in output. 

Rolls-Royce isn’t the only luxury automaker that recently announced electrification plans. 

Mercedes-Benz has also pledged to produce EVs only by 2030, following a massive $47 billion R&D investment into battery tech from 2022 onward.