Rolls-Royce says Plug-In hybrid 'essential' in two years

Rolls-Royce now looks likely to adopt plug-in hybrid technology within the next three years. Chief Torsten Müller-Otvos told Auto Express at the Geneva show that “It will be essential in two years, maybe not from customer demand but through legal regulation on emissions”

With parent company BMW already working on plug-in hybrid technology that is soon to be launched on the X5 eDrive – which uses a four-cylinder turbo paired with an electric motor – Rolls-Royce could soon have access to such a powetrain. Müller-Otvos said: “We are now a completely self-sustaining business, but technology like this is so expensive to develop that without BMW, Rolls-Royce would probably not have survived.”