Transport

Rolls-Royce Motors could 'exit batteries' and pivot to hydrogen fuel cell cars: CEO

But BMW-owned luxury brand rules out any foray into H2 combustion, warning that it is too inefficient

Rolls-Royce's Spectre BEV.
Rolls-Royce's Spectre BEV.Photo: Rolls-Royce Motors

Luxury automaker Roll-Royce Motor Cars could feasibly “exit batteries” in future and pivot into making cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, the company’s chief executive has said, despite the brand launching its first ever fully battery-electric vehicle (BEV) last year.

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The move would only occur if and when fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) technology is sufficiently advanced, Torsten Müller-Ötvös told reporters at an Italian car show last week.

But BMW-owned Rolls-Royce Motor Cars — not to be confused with British engineering and defence contractor Rolls-Royce Holdings, which is developing hydrogen jet engines for aviation — would never consider investing in hydrogen internal combustion engine (ICE) technology, Müller-Ötvös added.

In what could be characterised as a series of off-the-cuff remarks, the Rolls-Royce CEO described hydrogen fuel cells as just another type of battery.

“If hydrogen will be used in the future, then it’s fuel cells,” he told the Autocar magazine in an interview. “And fuel cells are nothing different from a battery. It is just how you get the energy.”
Rolls-Royce’s unique customer base and position in the market could make it ideally placed to develop H2 FCEV models in future, he said, without elaborating any further as to what specific attributes make the brand’s customers more receptive to FCEVs.

He continued: “And 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. We might exit batteries, and we might enter into fuel cells.”

The marque’s German parent company BMW began producing small numbers of an FCEV version of its iX5 car in February this year, after CEO Oliver Zipse made the startling pronouncement in October that an H2 vehicle would be the “hippest thing to drive”.

UK-based Rolls-Royce launched its first all-electric car, the Spectre, in October last year and plans to stop making its trademark V12 fossil-fuel combustion engine in 2030 in order to make only zero-emissions vehicles.

The Spectre has an advertised range of 520km on a full battery change, compared to the 710km range of the marque’s equivalent fossil fuel-ICE model, the Phantom.

But Müller-Ötvös ruled out a foray into hydrogen combustion for Rolls-Royce, noting that BMW already trialled the technology and found it wanting.

“I think a hydrogen combustion engine is nothing I would in any way look into, because that was tested already years ago,” he said. “This is not the most efficient way to use hydrogen.”

Some automakers are considering hydrogen ICE for heavy trucking applications, on account of the weight of the vehicles and the additional weight of large batteries needed to power vehicles of this size — as well as customers’ concerns about the cost of upgrading to electric powertrains and re-skilling maintenance teams.

The Rolls-Royce Spectre BEV weighs around 2,900kg — almost 50% heavier than the average electric vehicle — but not significantly heavier than the ICE-powered Phantom, which weighs in at 2,745kg.

But Müller-Ötvös acknowledged that hydrogen infrastructure lags significantly behind its electric counterpart, noting that many Spectre buyers have already owned electric vehicles and have charging points in place, which is not the case for H2.
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CarsRolls-RoyceTrucksfuel-cell vehicleshydrogen fuel cell
Published 12 June 2023, 13:19Updated 12 June 2023, 13:20