Rolls-Royce Motor Cars built its legacy on throaty fossil fuel power, but it will be fully electric starting next decade.
The venerable British automaker will launch its first electric vehicle — a two-door coupe — late next year. A battery-powered crossover is likely to follow by mid-decade.
"Electric drive is uniquely and perfectly suited to Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, more so than any other automotive brand," CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes said. "It is silent, refined and creates torque almost instantly, going on to generate tremendous power."
Like much of the industry, Rolls-Royce's shift to electrification is less about near-term consumer demand than it is a nod to governments racing to decarbonize. Many cities globally seek to limit or ban sales of new high-emission combustion-powered vehicles by early next decade.
Rolls-Royce will switch to electric power when it replaces core models, Mueller-Oetvoes said.
"We will go from combustion engin…