The world’s first electric Rolls-Royce. Makes perfect sense.

Eighty years ago, marketers displayed a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost’s goodness by balancing a coin on edge of its radiator cover. In the late 1950s, Rolls-Royce ads claimed that at 60 mph, the loudest noise inside a Rolls was the electric clock.

Fundamentally, why do people buy Rolls-Royces? For blissful, quiet, serene motor-wafting.You get the point: subdued excellence, serene engineering. Well, Rolls is at it again with the all-electric Phantom 102EX.

Andrew Martin, Rolls-Royce’s chief engineer, remains humble. "We did nothing really clever here,” he says as he shows me the 102EX Phantom.

"We wanted it to drive just like the standard V12 car. We also want to challenge people’s perceptions of electric drive; to offer everything you get with a V12, but using electric motors.”

The plug-in ultra luxury sedan is powered by two rear-mounted water-cooled motors producing 290kW of total power and 590 ft-lbs of torque, while the engine bay formerly filled with the 6.75-liter V12 is now home to a bevy of lithium-ion batteries.

Charging time is seven to eight hours at 440 volts through the special three-phase charge system. Accessories like the heating, air conditioning, power steering and vacuum pump for the brakes are all electric, too.

There are just two external differences to the electric 102EX Phantom from the standard car. The fuel door now houses a charging plug, and the "Spirit of Ecstasy” hood ornament –celebrating her 100th birthday as the brand’s mascot—is illuminated.

Ends