Rolls-Royce to Unveil First Electric Phantom At Geneva Auto Show

The luxury German carmaker, Rolls-Royce, will unveil the company’s first electric powered vehicle, the Rolls-Royce Phantom 102EX, at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show, which is scheduled to open on March 1, 2011.

Rolls-Royce said in the announcement that it is committed to continuing to provide an authentic Rolls-Royce driving experience, going on to say the new electric Phantom will not initially be available to consumers as the company says it is using the model to evaluate performance, range, and how consumers would react to an electric vehicle from the company.

 The Rolls-Royce Phantom is the company’s flagship, most luxurious vehicle, which starts at a base price of USD $380,000.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé is a 6.3-lt V12 and weighs in at 5,800-lb, it is an extremely large and heavy vehicle, and the company needs to ensure if it is going to be powered with electricity (even partly) in the future that it works as expected by consumers, who would be paying over USD $443,000 for even the base model.

The current production Rolls-Royce Phantom gets 11 mpg in city driving, compared to 18 mpg in highway driving, according to the EPA. Driving range for the electric model has yet to be disclosed.

Rolls-Royce says it will announce the complete specifications and features of the new electric Phantom 102EX during the Geneva auto show where the vehicle will be unveiled.

BMW, the parent company of Rolls-Royce, today also announced a new subsidiary, BMWi, which will introduce two electric powered BMW cars by the end of 2013.

The BMW stock (ETR:BMW) is trading down about 0.4-percent to $60.30 per share, after peaking close to $62 per share in early morning trading.