On Thursday, Rolls-Royce Motors showcased its own take on the driverless car, the 103EX, which has modestly been called a “vision vehicle”, and it offers a glimpse of what the luxury end of self driving cars could look like.
Rolls-Royce 103EX – Cheap at half the price…
The bespoke car is expected to cost about £1 million, (just over $1.4 million) but will feature all the luxury and decadence the British carmaker has built its reputation on.
The car has been over a year in development, and the chief executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Torsten Müller-Ötvös said it was a move away from “utilitarian and bland future modes of mobility”.
Obviously there will be no steering wheel, instead, a ‘grand sanctuary’ featuring a large silk sofa, with a big 1.5-meter screen in front. This can be made transparent, so you can see where you are going, or instead watch a movie or your favorite box set.
There will be just one door, which will open in conjunction with the roof so you can ‘step’ into the car rather than the inelegant bending over that us poor commoners have to endure in these dark days where we actually have to drive the thing. As chief designer Giles Taylor proudly proclaimed, “you won’t have to duck and tuck any more.”
As if that was not enough, to make stepping out of the vehicle that touch more grandiose, there will be a projector that will illuminate a red carpet as you step out of the vehicle. I guess some people need to be reminded just how important they are every time they get in and out of a car.
Instead of the current 12-cylinder engine, the undercarriage will instead be used as an area to store bags. These will automatically eject when the car stops, being available for a porter to easily collect. As us peasants might not know, “most Rolls-Royce customers never touch their luggage”, Müller-Ötvös helpfully reminded us.
Start saving, you have enough time
Unfortunately for ‘the 1%‘, the car is not expected to go into production until the 2040’s, and Rolls-Royce are still not sure what will actually power the car, though Müller-Ötvös predicted it would be electric.
The car will still be easily identifiable as a Rolls-Royce by the iconic Winged Lady prominently jutting out at the front, and the length will remain the same as the current Phantom, which is just under six meters.
