Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100 is an Autonomous Electric Chariot For Future Joneses

The first one was, of course, a BMW, with the iNext concept car previewing a road-going, autonomous Bimmer for the year 2021. Next on the list is Rolls-Royce, which recently presented the Vision Next 100 concept car at an event at London's Roundhouse.

Codenamed “103X”, the striking coupe is in many ways the first real concept car with the Spirit of Ecstasy on the hood. Sure, there have been others, but none of them looked as dramatic as the Vision Next 100.

“With the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 we were mindful not to dwell on the past. We wanted to be as innovative as possible and at the same time transcend the design history of the marque,” said Giles Taylor, Director of Design, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

Rolls-Royce didn't say much about the technical platform used on its newest concept car, but reading between the lines and observing certain details we can positively say that we're talking about an autonomous electric car.

The overall shape is that of a futuristic coupe, and if you're wondering why RR went with a two-door instead of a four-door sedan, the answer lies in the fact that the 103EX is autonomous and doesn't even sport a steering wheel.

The two doors are partly “coach/suicide” and “gullwing-style” making an event out of entering or exiting the car. Speaking of entering, inside you'll only find what looks like a very comfy couch, a giant OLED screen instead of a standard dashboard and two gigantic slabs of expensive Macassar wood paneling on the doors. Taking things a bit further, Rolls-Royce calls the cockpit “The Grand Sanctuary.”

It is implied that passengers will be able to interact with the vehicle only by using gesture and/or voice controls, essentially transforming it into a very luxurious transportation appliance.

Like Apple's Siri and Windows' Cortana, the 103EX has “Eleanor.” For those not fluent in Rolls-Royce history, Eleanor Thornton was an English actress and model that served as inspiration for Charles Sykes' “Spirit of Ecstasy” sculpture, which has adorned the hoods of RR cars for over 100 years.

Despite what the gigantic hood may suggest, the electric powerplant sits at the rear of the “Grand Sanctuary,” while a funky luggage compartment is situated on each side of the hood.

The 28-inch wheels are apparently each hand-built from 65 individual pieces of aluminum, a material that has been extensively used on the luxurious coupe's body. All in all, this is how a Rolls-Royce from the future looks like, and it's everything we could have imagined, and more.