Put two men with ingenious ideas together, and you get the world-famous Rolls-Royce car. Henry Royce was an electrical engineer. He manufactured electrical motors developing electric doorbells. You name it, he had thought about it. Charles Rolls, also an engineer, but his aristocratic connections and money, made him the super salesman. He knew who would value the first class engineering in their cars.
About 1900 Rolls had thought about an electric car, saw its potential, but early batteries did not have the storage capacity to provide the power for longer journeys.
Petrol driven motor cars, especially those produced quickly and cheaply in Ford’s factories, captured the markets and petrol became the dominant fuel. The Rolls-Royce company remained the leader in refined, engineered motor cars such as the Silver Ghost and the Phantoms.
Since around 2010 Rolls Royce has been developing the finest quality electric car, for the future. The Spectre is of the highest quality now on the market now. There are challenges still ahead – a key component, lithium is a rare metal. Other challenges include charging points infrastructure. Why has Britain been slow to install these? Are we running away from making choices for the future? Do join us for this talk.
Duncan Feetham has been an enthusiast for perfectly engineered cars most of his life. He was Chair of the Rolls Royce Club and is a former Chair of the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Archive.