Rolls-Royce is considering a different approach to electrification, possibly switching from battery power to hydrogen fuel cells when the technology matures enough to commercialize on a large scale. car reported.
Speaking to the magazine at the public launch of the spectreRolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös said the luxury brand’s unique positioning and typical use case for the average Rolls-Royce owner make it possible for the brand to consider hydrogen as an alternative fuel. so in the future. At this point, the direction of running on fuel cells, rather than burning hydrogen, is something the brand is considering.
“I think the hydrogen internal combustion engine is not something that I would consider, because it was tested many years ago,” referring to the BMW 7 Series based on the E65/E66 BMW Hydrogen 7. “This is not the most efficient way to use hydrogen. If hydrogen is going to be used in the future, it’s fuel cells. And fuel cells are no different from batteries; it’s just how you get energy,” he said.
Rolls-Royce’s latest model is the all-electric Specter, a two-door coupe with a dual-motor powertrain that produces 585 hp and 900 Nm of torque, allowing the EV to weigh 2,975 kg can run from 0-100 km/h in 4.5 seconds. Its battery provides a range of up to 520 km in the WLTP cycle.
Mr. Müller-Ötvös said hydrogen fuel cell technology is “certainly something” that Rolls-Royce will pursue when the time is right and as the technology has developed further. Within the broader BMW Group, iX5 hydrogen The prototype was announced in February of this year, using a hydrogen fuel cell from a colleague hydrogen proponent, Toyota.
The production version of the iX5 Hydrogen will be sold in small numbers, although the launch of the model shows “the technical maturity of this powertrain type and underscores its potential for the future.” ,” the magazine quotes Zipse.
Rolls-Royce CEO Müller-Ötvös agrees that this technology will have a place in the future, especially in the case of the typical Rolls-Royce car that is not used frequently for long-distance travel. That said, Müller-Ötvös admits that hydrogen refueling is an obstacle and cannot be done at home, however, Rolls-Royce customers have large garage spaces, with plenty of room in their homes. their own and in office buildings to install chargers. .
Additionally, many Rolls-Royce customers have installed EV chargers in their homes as the Specter won’t be their first electric vehicle, the luxury carmaker said. car. Rolls-Royce is closely monitoring the development of hydrogen refueling infrastructure to further study the feasibility of using hydrogen in its vehicles.
