Rolls-Royce boss: electric power is ‘perfect’ for brand

Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös speaks to Denis Droppa about the silent-propulsion revolution taking place at the luxury carmaker

Electric power is perfect for Rolls-Royce and would have replaced the brand’s internal combustion engines (ICE) without being compelled to do so by legislation.

It fits the silent-propulsion ethos of the luxury British brand which recently announced that all its models would be electrically powered by 2030, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO of Rolls-Royce, told Motor News.

He was in SA taking part in a testing programme for the new Rolls-Royce Spectre, the brand ’ s first electric model. Prototypes of the battery-powered luxury coupé are being put through a 2.5-million kilometre regimen around the world ahead of its sales debut in November.

Final Spectre specifications will be announced closer to the market launch, but preliminary data predicts a range of 520km, with outputs of 430kW and 900Nm for a 0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds. Motor News drove the car in Franschhoek last weekend and our driving impressions will be published soon.

Müller-Ötvös is a strong proponent of electric power and says there has been no customer pushback against the brand’s impeding move to do away with its famed whisper-smooth V12 petrol engines. As part of a mass shift to reduce pollution, a number of countries are banning the sale of ICE vehicles soon in a bid to cut planet-warming emissions, with the European Commission proposing a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions from new cars by 2035.

“We will never compromise the experience that is Rolls-Royce. We are not a brand with roaring engines, so for that reason electric power fits perfectly with Rolls-Royce; it’s powerful, it’s torquey, it’s quiet, it’s got what we call ‘waftability’,” he explains.

“Rolls-Royces aren’t used for high distance commuting. They’re used in cities and for occasional weekend drives, and the Spectre’s 520km range is sufficient for that. We see no resistance from our customers to buying an electric car.”

He explains that the brand’s move to EVs was driven not by legislation but by customer demand, particularly from younger clients, with the average age of a Rolls-Royce customer decreasing from 56 to 43 in the past decade.

Demand for the Spectre had exceeded expectations and the car is expected to account for 20%-25% of Rolls-Royce sales, he adds.

Existing petrol models — the Phantom, Cullinan, Wraith, Dawn and Ghost — will not be converted into EVs and every model range introduced by 2030 will be an all-new electric car.

Rolls-Royce, which became part of the BMW stable in 1998, has flourished under Müller-Ötvös who was appointed CEO in 2010. The 119-year-old brand achieved a record 6,021 sales in 2022 despite an average price of €500,000 (about R9.4m) for its luxury cars. Demand for all Rolls-Royce models remains strong, with advance orders secured far into 2023.

In 2018 Müller-Ötvös launched ’the Cullinan SUV as the brand s first all-wheel drive vehicle, which has gone on to become the marque’s best-selling model.

He also introduced Black Badge, an edgier alter ego to the British marque’s traditional chrome-clad aesthetic. This darker, more sinister execution is chosen by 27% of Rolls-Royce customers. Black Badge made its debut with Wraith and Ghost in 2016, followed by Dawn in 2017 then Cullinan in 2019, and most recently on the new Ghost — with the latter becoming one of the fastest-selling products in the marque’s history.

With the brand’s bespoke, customised approach, no two vehicles leaving the Goodwood, UK factory are the same. With Rolls-Royce Bespoke, each car is handmade to order and clients’ requests for personalised features are becoming ever more imaginative and technically demanding, he says.

“Every car is unique and comes with the customer’s own signature. I dare to say that without Bespoke, Rolls-Royce wouldn’t exist any more.”

Müller-Ötvös noted that SA was an important market for Rolls-Royce and had grown in recent years.

Rolls-Royce is the best-performing brand for local importer Daytona which also has Aston Martin, Lotus, Pagani and McLaren in its stable. Daytona will open a new, dedicated Rolls-Royce showroom at its dealership in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg to coincide with the launch of the Spectre in November.

The expected price of the Spectre will be around R12m depending on the exchange rate, according to Daytona CEO Justin Divaris.