There’s Something Horribly Wrong With Rolls-Royce Making EVs and Nobody’s Talking About It

When it comes to cars, Rolls-Royce remains the pinnacle of luxury. They make ultra-expensive chariots that ride like the starship Enterprise and are animated by hand built V12 masterpieces which delight multiple senses upon inspection. In a lot of ways, buying a Rolls-Royce is a lot like buying a flagship Patek Philippe wristwatch, an Audemars Piguet, or a Rolex.

We’ll actually get back to the watches in a second, because they are relevant to this story. First, let’s go back in time.

Rolls-Royce was originally established in 1904 in Manchester, a direct result of Charles Rolls and Henry Royce joining forces to produce “the best car in the world,” - which they did, starting with the original Silver Ghost, built on a 40/50 chassis.

About a decade later, the carmaker started building airplane engines, at the government’s request, resulting in the first-ever Rolls-Royce Eagle engine, which went into production in 1915. Fun fact, the first non-stop trans-Atlantic crossing by plane was done using two Eagle engines mounted on a converted Vickers Vimy bomber.

Slowly but surely, Rolls-Royce went on to adopt this bespoke luxury image, with products featuring the very best craftsmanship, something that’s always been true for their hand-built engines. Can you see where this is going?

Alright, let me spell it out for you. You can look all you want, but you won’t find an internal combustion engine, hand-built or otherwise, inside the fully electric Spectre. In fact, you won’t find one in any new Rolls-Royce before the clock finally strikes midnight on this decade.

This might be a problem for a brand that prides itself on craftsmanship. Think of the previous-generation Phantom and its gorgeous hand-assembled 6.75-liter V12. It’s a massive unit and it’s put together in a truly artistic manner.

Now, when you purchase a Rolls-Royce, you know that you’re not just spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on brand recognition. In fact, you know that you’re getting the very best in bespoke manufacturing, top of the line hand painting, the most beautiful woodwork for the interior, unique embroidery techniques, the softest suspension imaginable and of course, the engine, which is worth tens of thousands of dollars all by itself.

By the way, that 6.75-liter V12 unit used to look so good before Rolls-Royce decided to use engine covers on later models, like the latest Ghost or Cullinan. It was like staring at the complex mechanism of a wristwatch.

Now imagine your favorite Rolex being stripped of its internals, all the mechanical bits and the dials, where instead you’d end up with a digital display. Sure, the craftsmanship on the bracelet and case would still be top-notch, but the very soul of the piece would be gone, wouldn’t it?

So then, shouldn’t the same be true for a Rolls-Royce with a big hole (frunk) under its hood instead of a V12 masterpiece? I can guarantee you that the electric drivetrain in the Spectre isn't hand-built – not that it would matter since you’ll never be able to see it anyway.

I know there was no other way. Rolls-Royce, like all other carmakers, have to ditch their internal combustion engines. The thing is, Rolls-Royce is more than just an automobile company. They sell an image that is all about wealth.

It will be sad to see future Phantoms and Ghosts zooming around without a handcrafted beating heart underneath their gigantic hoods, but at the same time, I have no doubt that the Spectre, and all other battery electric successors, will still prove tremendously successful. If anything, they’ll be even more refined than anything else that came before.

However, don’t be fooled into thinking that at least some Rolls-Royce buyers and collectors won’t feel as though there is something extremely valuable (and with a lot of history) missing from their cars.