Rolls-Royce is working on the development of a first EV, the British reports Autocar. It seems that the completely new model will be given the eloquent name ‘Silent Shadow’.
The model designation ‘Silent Shadow’ seems to be an allusion to the Silver Shadow, which came on the market in 1965. Rolls-Royce has already filed this name with the German patent office. What this Silent Shadow will look like exactly is not yet known. It is quite possible that the model will adopt style elements from the outlandish 103EX from 2016, but it is also not inconceivable that the EV is more like the Phantom or the Ghost in terms of shape. It will be a completely new car, so don’t expect an electrified version of one of those two models.
According to British sources Autocar The development of the Silent Shadow is parallel to the BMW i7 and the cars will share many technical components. Rolls-Royce does use its own aluminum spaceframe as a platform. BMW is still silent in all languages ​​about the specifications of the i7, so it will be difficult to estimate the power of the electric Roller. It is to be expected that he will have electric motors on the front and rear axles that together generate more than 500 hp. In that case, a substantial battery pack of 100 kWh or more seems plausible to give the undoubtedly heavy Rolls-Royce a decent range.
Faster than expected
While Bentley has the clear goal of being fully electric from 2030 and only producing plug-in hybrids and EVs from 2026, Rolls-Royce has seemingly slowed down until now. CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös announced at the end of last year that the exclusive brand ‘this decade’ will come with an EV and that plug-in hybrids are not an issue. Since the BMW i7 is expected to appear in the first half of 2022, it is quite possible that the Silent Shadow will also make its appearance next year. That would be faster than the CEO had suspected with his earlier statement.