Rolls-Royce reveals futuristic luxury car
Ultra-luxury car brand Rolls-Royce unveiled an extreme, futuristic concept car Thursday that's billed as its "first-ever pure vision vehicle."
The wild Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100 made its splashy debut at London's Roundhouse arts venue. It boasts a dazzling design, including 28-inch wheels and a silky wool sofa in the interior. It also has advanced technological features, such as total self-driving capability.
This car is just about as concept as concept vehicles get — and there's a dash of the absurd, to be sure. But some elements of some of the car's features could eventually be integrated into a production car.
Rolls-Royce is part of the BMW Group, which unveiled the Vision Next 100 as part of its ongoing 100th-anniversary celebration. The car is "code-named" 103EX, Rolls-Royce said.
In its statement, Rolls-Royce acknowledged that the immense 12-cylinder engines that have powered its huge cars in recent years are "most unlikely to exist in the future." So, adding a dose of mystery, Rolls added, "one can only surmise how this Rolls-Royce will be powered." But it did say the Vision Next 100 generates zero emissions.
Features include:
• Artificial intelligence making the extreme-luxury car fully self-driving (steering wheels not welcome here) and creating a virtual assistant that will provide recommendations on destinations and scheduling.
• Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) touch-screen, Macassar wood paneling, deep-pile ivory wool carpet and a silky wool sofa for comfortable seating on the interior.
• A 19.4-foot-long, 5.2-foot-high body, equaling the same dimensions as the extended-wheelbase edition of the Rolls-Royce Phantom.
• Polished metal, the famous Rolls-Royce "pantheon" grille with Double-R badge.
• Luggage compartment near the front wheels.
There was no price listed for this vehicle — as a concept, it's not for sale — and for those who may not be enamored with its looks, that's probably a good thing.
Follow Paste BN reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.