Future Rolls Royce Phantom will have carbonfibre body and plug-in hybrid drivetrain
The next Rolls-Royce Phantom is still at least three years away from appearing on the world stage, but executives are already hinting at its design direction and engineering elements.
It appears that the BMW-owned luxury car maker is pondering shifting from the current aluminium spaceframe layout to a more modern carbonfibre body on top of an aluminium chassis.
This kind of design change would reduce the new Phantom’s weight as well as fuel consumption, and both of those characteristic are extremely important when you consider that the current model weighs a massive two-and-a-half tonnes and guzzles up 22.8L/100km in the city.
The new Phantom may also share the BMW i3′s carbonfibre body-aluminium chassis configuration, you really shouldn’t expect it to be anywhere near as a radical shift in looks as the electric hatchback is. According to Giles Taylor – Rolls-Royce’s head of design – the styling of the next generation Phantom will tread ‘an evolutionary path’ while still retaining the current car’s large C-pillar, thus affording rear passengers a substantial amount of privacy.
The new Phantom will feature a similar V12 petrol motor with the 338kW 6.75-litre version powering the current model but despite this, the next Phantom will still be a plug-in hybrid version.
The possibility of an all-electric Phantom, isn’t as clear-cut, the reaction to the 102EX Phantom Experimental Electric tempered by concerns about range – which is a concern with alll electric engines. The 102EX could manage a range of about 200km between charges, although new electric cars – such as the Tesla Model S – can manage over 400km.
The current generation Phantom is the first vehicle designed by BMW after taking full control of the Rolls Royce board. Ti debuted back in 2003 and is now available as a standard and long wheelbase limousine, coupe and convertible.
