201 hp and 1000 Nm
Hollywood star Jason Momoa («Aquaman») decided to turn the original 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom II into an electric car. The Electrogenic team behind the remake shared some facts about the project.
The company says it always works to ensure that its electric mods don't modify the car in a way that can't be put back if desired. The team carefully removed the 7.7-liter inline-six engine that originally powered the car and replaced it with a 93 kWh battery pack. To keep it from looking out of place in the engine bay, it was covered with a hand-formed aluminum hood.
Power comes from an electric motor producing 201 hp, which is about four times more than the 1929 engine, which produced between 40 and 50 hp. Torque is 1000 Nm.
Electrogenic also had to figure out how to improve the cable-operated brakes. A hydraulic system was hidden between the pedal and the original cable actuators to allow the system to work in tandem with the engine's regenerative braking system.
Internally, Electrogenic changed some of the gauges to better suit the car's new powertrain. For example, the fuel gauge now doubles as an LED charge level indicator. You can also monitor the battery consumption during acceleration and the amount of energy collected by the regenerative brakes.
The result, according to Steve Drummond, director of Electrogenic, is a surprisingly cohesive package, despite the huge changes hidden beneath the surface: «The Phantom is a pleasure to drive. It behaves the way Rolls-Royce engineers would have liked it a hundred years ago if they had the technology available to us today. It is quiet, light and graceful».