A unique piece of art

Source: Inhabitat.com

Engineers put a green twist on the beloved Phantom model including the largest battery pack ever fitted to a car. The experimental electric vehicle has spent the past year on tour throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and now North America for press, owners, and VIPs to test drive.

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Strong, silent, billionaire-type

Source: Nytimes.com

Rolls-Royce found 2,700 buyers worldwide for its Phantom and Ghost models last year. And to hear company executives tell it, roughly 2,699 of them are perfectly content with their V-12 gasoline engines. But that hasn’t stopped the 102EX, a 6,000-pound, all-electric version of the brand’s Phantom sedan, from barnstorming around the globe. It brought its nearly silent stump speech to Manhattan.

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A 389hp Magic Carpet Ride

Source: drivearabia.com

It isn’t every day that we get to drive a Rolls-Royce. It isn’t every day that we get to drive an electric car either. But there we were, driving the Rolls-Royce Phantom 102EX, the British carmaker’s experiment with electric cars. Drive Arabia join a team of Dubai journalists in testing 102EX’s performance in the heat of the Middle East.

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Good things come to those who wait

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

They don’t rush into things at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. At the very beginning of the 20th century, Charles Rolls and Henry Royce had separately played around with electrically powered motors, but they never combined their efforts to produce an electric Rolls-Royce. Now, more than 100 years later, the company’s first electric car, the 102EX Phantom Experimental Electric, glides out in silence from R-R’s super-modern factory at Goodwood.

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Plug to Play- Auto News takes a look at the 102EX engine

Source: inautonews.com

Realizing that the V12 engine’s days maybe numbered due to fuel-economy and exhaust-emissions pressures, Rolls-Royce mounted an exploratory visit to a probable future in which guzzling cylinders are superseded by electric propulsion. Consistent with the Rolls-Royce ethos, the EE’s soothing white noise is equal measures of tire hiss, wind ruffle, and humming electronics.
In place of a fuel-filler pipe, the EE has a standard European electrical connector for recharging the battery pack. Colour LEDs report electrical status-flashing blue during charging, green when the battery is full of electricity, and red if an electrical anomaly arises. These colours advisories in a console mounted display.

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The Flying Lady gets new wings

 Souce: igizmo.co.uk

We know petrol won’t last forever, as does Rolls-Royce, so to ensure its discerning customers keep in the luxury market when the planet runs dry they’ve built an experimental electric roller called the 102EX.  Using its 105-year mastercraft the concept Phantom packs all the usual premium materials, plus the world’s largest car battery to shift it from 0-60mph in a rather jolly eight seconds.  When Parker needs to top up he can use a standard plug socket or park it into an induction plate.  It may just be a showcase, it may not have the V12 growl, and it may not be eco but it may well be a Rolls’ next generation.

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Testing the water- New Car Net judges the 102EX

Source: Newcarnet.co.uk

The idea of an electric Rolls-Royce limousine might be anathema to some, but in many ways the 102EX makes luxury sense.

This emission-free Phantom, revealed at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, arguably represents one of the most significant initiatives taken by the company in recent years. It is the world’s first battery electric vehicle for the ultra-luxury segment and continues a tradition of experimental cars running through the model generations.

With the 102EX, also to be known as the Phantom Experimental Electric (EE), it is the company’s intention to carefully test the opinions and reactions to alternative drive-train options of a range of stakeholders including owners, enthusiasts, members of the public and the media. There are no plans to build a production version of this car. Rolls-Royce says the Phantom EE’s role is as a test bed, designed to explore established BEV technologies, to pose as well as to answer questions.

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Compromise? Not on speed. CNET UK reports

Source: CNET UK

Codenamed the 102EX, the electric Phantom boasts what’s most likely the biggest battery ever strapped to an electric vehicle. It’s a lithium-ion affair, with a capacity of 71kWh, which we’re told gives the car a maximum range of 125 miles, and a more modest 100 miles if you’re heavy on the accelerator and crank up the air-con.Depending on what kind of charger you’re using, loading the 102EX with crackly electrical power will take somewhere between 8 and 24 hours. There’s the option to charge via induction pad too when you park the car over a special rubber mat.

Despite ditching the V12 engine, the 102EX doesn’t compromise much when it comes to speed. Its velocity is capped at 100mph, but it goes from 0-60 in 7.8 seconds — a little slower than the regular Phantom, which can do it in 5.7 seconds. That said, it does offer silent acceleration, which might passingly entertain wealthy Londoners as they sneak up on unsuspecting cyclists.

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Quiet as a Ghost: 102EX test driven by ITV Meridian Tonight

Source: ITV Meridian Tonight

From electoral rolls to an electric rolls, ITV Meridian Tonights’ Correspondent test drives the Electric Rolls-Royce. The luxury car brand – which despite the recession is seeing sales booming – recently announced it has developed the first super luxury electric car. There’s only one of these in the world – and they let our correspondent Andrew Pate – take it for a test drive! He was in the safe hands of Nigel Wonnacott from Rolls Royce.

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News Hub: $3 Million Electric Rolls-Royce

Publication: Wall Street Journal

Does a 6,000-pound, $3 million land yacht represent the vanguard of eco-conscious driving? Dan looks at the experimental Rolls-Royce 102EX and the intersection of high luxury and low carbon.

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