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Rolls-Royce might 'enter into fuel cells'

Rolls-Royce released its first series-produced EV, the Spectre, in 2022, and the brand plans to launch additional battery-powered models in the coming years. It's not closing the door to other powertrains, however, and it's notably open to experimenting with hydrogen fuel cells. "Why not? I would say so when the time is right for us, and when the technology is so much advanced, that it is definitely something we would pursue as Rolls-Royce. Why not? We might exit batteries, and we might enter into fuel cells," company boss Torsten Muller-Otvos told British magazine Autocar. He stopped short of revealing whether engineers are currently testing hydrogen fuel cell-powered prototypes. It's too early to tell whether Rolls-Royce would develop a hydrogen fuel cell on its own or whether it would source some of the drivetrain's parts from parent company BMW, which has dabbled in this technology for decades. BMW notably began building an X5-based, hydrogen-powered prototype called iX5 in 2023, and it plans to ultimately funnel the feedback it gathers by testing the model into a production car. Muller-Otvos has already ruled out building a car powered by a hydrogen-burning engine, however. "I think a hydrogen combustion engine is nothing I would in any way look into, because that was tested already years ago. This is not the most efficient way to use hydrogen. If hydrogen will be used in the future, then it's fuel cells. And fuel cells are nothing different from a battery. It is just how you get the energy," he told Autocar, referring to the hydrogen-burning 7 Series prototype tested by BMW in the 2000s. Rolls-Royce, like nearly every brand looking at hydrogen technology, warns that the infrastructure needs to improve before the fuel cell can merge into the mainstream. "You can't obviously have hydrogen charging at home, whereas [with EVs] you have one big advantage, and all of our clients have big garages. There is lots of space at home and there is lots of space in office buildings to install charging," the CEO said. As it stands, Rolls-Royce wants to sell only electric cars by the end of 2030, and it hasn't announced plans to launch a series-produced hydrogen-electric model. It's not unreasonable to assume that this outlook could change during the second half of the 2020s, however.

Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV reveals its rear to the cameras

Last week, Rolls-Royce released some official photos of its upcoming SUV, code-named Project Cullinan. The SUV was still wearing full camouflage, and we could only see the front half, but it was our first peak at the new vehicle. Now, thanks to one of our spy photographers, we can see the rest. Immediately noticeable are the rear-hinged, suicide-style rear doors. There appears to be a dummy handle at the trailing edge of the door, but there's no hiding the real thing, which match up nicely with the front handles. Also evident is the plain and simple roof line. No flashy curves here, just simple lines and angles. In fact, the profile of the rear hatch is a bit reminiscent of the Land Rover Range Rover. The hatch drops down to a low-profile rear bumper that features squared-off cutouts for the exhaust. There are couple more details we spot in these photos as well. The unmistakable Rolls-Royce grille looks a bit more rounded than what we saw in the official photos. The result is a more familial look to the Ghost-based Rolls-Royce models. Also noticeable is the strong shoulder line found on every Rolls that runs just below the windows from the headlights to the tail. We can't quite see the tail end of the feature line because of some false body work, but it certainly appears to run the length of the car. See for yourself in the gallery above. Related Video:

I got to see the Rolls-Royce Dawn

It may look like a Wraith convertible, but that doesn't do this new Rolls justice. In mid-May, Rolls-Royce announced the name of its forthcoming convertible: Dawn. Two days after that news was released, I saw the new car in Beverly Hills, CA. And as you can probably guess from earlier spy shots, not to mention my choice of lead photo, it looks like a Wraith convertible. Well, sort of. Before getting a full briefing of the new Dawn, I was frisked, security guards waved handheld metal detectors around my limbs, and my iPhone was confiscated. I was left standing outside a glamorous mansion with no more than a blue notebook, a pen, a glass of champagne, and gorgeous views of the Hollywood hills and Pacific Ocean. I was told to keep my mouth shut about everything I was about to see, until further notice. So no, I can't tell you everything I know about the Rolls-Royce Dawn; the company wants to save some information for the car's official unveiling in September at the Frankfurt Motor Show. I don't have photos. I don't even have a napkin sketch. Instead, I'm now allowed to tell you my impressions of the car I saw. It may look like a Wraith convertible, but that phrase alone doesn't do this new Rolls justice. Fabulous places. Shared social occasions. That's the sort of imagery Rolls-Royce wants to convey with the Dawn. In an effort to really convey this, Rolls-Royce opted to give the car a totally different name – that's why it isn't called Wraith Drophead Coupe, like the convertible version of the flagship Phantom. "'Dawn' perfectly expresses the character of the new Rolls-Royce. In its tentative, inchoate, anticipatory state, dawn is the world coming to light from the ethereal dark of the night," the company said in its original release. The Dawn name also harks back to the incredibly exclusive Silver Dawn from the 1950s, pictured above. Fabulous places and fabulous people. Shared social occasions. That's the sort of imagery Rolls-Royce wants to convey with the Dawn. After a hearing details that shall not be mentioned here (yet), I met the Dawn for the first time. The car drove up a path to the Beverly Hills mansion's courtyard, top up, modern music playing in the background. This was the first time in recent memory that a convertible was introduced with its roof affixed, but this was intentional. With the roof on, the differences between Wraith and Dawn are immediately noticeable. View 8 Photos With the roof up, the big droptop sort of looks like a hot rod.