Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Rolls-Royce Unveils Phantom 102EX, World’s Most Luxurious Electric Car




Rolls-Royce Unveils Phantom 102EX, World’s Most Luxurious Electric Car

Stan Schroeder



Looking for a luxury electric car, with utter disregard for the price? Rolls-Royce has got something for you: the Phantom 102EX, an electric version of the company’s top-of-the-line model.
The car is powered by the world’s largest electric car battery, weighing 640 kg (1,400 lbs) and has a range of 125 miles, which is not bad for a large limousine such as the Phantom. The batteries can be charged quickly — in about eight hours — but if you want to conserve battery life, you’ll need to take the slower route and leave the car charging for more than 20 hours.
That shouldn’t be too much trouble with the Phantom 102EX’s unique charging system: The car’s battery is charged simply by parking the car over special pads buried in the ground. The technology, called induction charging, uses magnetic coupling instead of a regular cable, and has 90% efficiency.
As far as performance goes, the Phantom 102EX will reach 60 mph in less than eight seconds with a maximum speed of 100 mph — not bad, but slower than the regular Phantom, whose V12 engine brings the car to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds.
Unfortunately, the Phantom 102EX, which was unearthed today at the Geneva auto show, is only an experimental model. If there is enough interest, Rolls-Royce might bring it into production. Better start saving now, as the projected price for the vehicle is around $1.6 million.
Furthermore, the final version of the car is not set in stone just yet as the BMW, Rolls-Royce’s parent company, is exploring several hybrid and electric solutions, the BBC reports.
We’ve recently seen a few other concept electric cars, including the Nissan ESFLOW and the Tesla S.
[via The Telegraph]

No comments:

Post a Comment