Rolls-Royce Gave Up on Electric — Here’s WHY

In 2024, Rolls-Royce delivered 1,890 of its electric Spectres. In 2025, it delivered 1,002. That is a fall of 47% in a single year, and electric cars went from a third of Rolls-Royce's sales to under a fifth. In the same year, the V12 Cullinan rose 27% and the V12 Ghost rose 23%. The richest buyers in the world were given a free choice, and most of them chose the engine. In 2021, Rolls-Royce promised that by 2030 it would "no longer be in the business of producing or selling any internal combustion engine products." In March this year, chief executive Chris Brownridge dropped that target, refused to set a new date, and said: "The V12 is part of our history." This video covers the promise and the Spectre, the history from the Midland Hotel in Manchester in 1904 to Goodwood in 2003, and the numbers behind the flop. Plus a detail most people don't know: the 6.75-litre V12 Rolls-Royce has decided to keep is built in Britain, by BMW at Hams Hall in Warwickshire. And this week's figures: Rolls-Royce deliveries down 18% between July and September. Then the other famous names backing away from electric. Bentley's all-electric 2030 plan now has no fixed date. Aston Martin's first EV has slipped from 2025 to "it could be 2035, it might be 2033." Lamborghini turned its first EV into a plug-in hybrid, calling a full EV "an expensive hobby." Porsche took around €3.1 billion in charges changing course, and Ferrari halved its 2030 electric target. Plus the electric price war further down the market, with Auto Trader reporting record discounts and the average new EV now cheaper than the average new petrol car, and the government's review of the ZEV mandate, which closes on 23 October. Then the twist: the one British luxury brand that kept its electric promise was Jaguar. It registered 8 new cars in Britain in the first seven months of this year, and sold 800 worldwide between July and September, against Rolls-Royce's 1,069. The honest side too: the new Spectre Series II with up to 390 miles of range, an electric coachbuilt two-seater, and a second electric Rolls-Royce on the way. If money were no object, would you take the electric Spectre or a V12 Rolls-Royce? And should the government cut the electric car targets for everyone, not just the smallest makers? Tell me in the comments.