The new Rolls Royce concept gives us a glimpse into what the future of luxury automobiles just might be. Scared anyone?
Our beautiful planet Earth is heading towards an inevitable energy crisis and the future of the “pre-historic” internal combustion engine is at stake. Top automobile companies are slowly but surely preparing for a completely digital world of cars. With Tesla leading a charge of new generation zero-emission vehicles, the pressure is building on traditional manufactures. BMW has already embraced the future with the introduction of the i8. Their commitment to the future is so strong, they’ve decided to show what they can do with a classic British luxury brand in a 22nd century Earth, with the Rolls Royce 103EX concept.
The Rolls Royce 103EX concept was revealed to celebrate BMW’s 100th Birthday. At a first glance, this Rolls Royce looks like a luxury car driven by a Jetsons character. It is a bit overwhelming and looks capable of vertical lift-off and low range flight. The single suicide door integrates with the roof canopy creating a theatrical entrance to what can only be described as a large, sophisticated and very decadent sofa. Rolls Royce calls it a luxurious throne, Pretentious alert everyone. Hidden away in the door panel is an umbrella. Typical Rolls Royce. The single sided gull-wing style canopy and the suicide door add to the showmanship of this Rolls.
The car features wheels that are completely covered with semi-circular slits that reveal an astonishing chrome alloy pattern. However the wheels themselves look strange and extremely thin. It looks like the car is running on roller blades. It makes the Rolls look disproportionate and lethargic. The whole body looks like it is suspended on a set of four wheels. The concept maybe for the future but it inherits a very traditional setup of a body mounted on a chassis, allowing for absolutely exclusive and futuristic coach-building. This essentially means that each car would be bespoke to the tastes of its customers. This could be good news, depending on your opinion of the Rolls’ radical design scheme.
Being a car of the future, autonomous driving is an absolute must. Although an idea shrugged away in the past, Rolls Royce have announced that the 103EX would be a fully autonomous driving concept. They’ve even employed a smoky-voiced British woman christened “Eleanor” to act as driver/female butler. Eleanor is essentially Rolls Royce’s Artificial Intelligence around which the underpinnings of the entire car is carried out. The AI acts as the sole bridge of communication and input between the car and passenger. Eleanor drives her future passengers to destinations of their choice. She can also take passengers to appointments that have been pre-defined and entertain passengers along the way with an array of media applications. This is achieved with the help of a transparent high resolution display that sits as the sole device in a rather elegant and simplistic interior. Co-incidentally Eleanor is also the name of the woman who was the muse for the famous Spirit of Ecstasy statue that dons every single Rolls Royce.
Absolutely no details have been revealed regarding the powertrain on this concept but Rolls Royce claims it would be a zero-emission setup. Clearly, they want their design concept to sync into the minds of the general public. The Rolls Royce 103EX is absolutely radical and redefines our image of future luxury automobiles. Granted it isn’t the prettiest car to emerge from the rather Victorian stables of Rolls Royce but we’ve got to admit, the Brits have got the whole “22nd century British digital chariot” concept eerily right.
Image Credits: Topgear
Leave a Comment