Rolls-Royce And Bentley Want To Get Into The Electric-Car Game

In the world of electric cars, luxury is defined by Tesla, with new competition coming from Cadillac (the ELR) and BMW (the i8). But those cars could soon be eclipsed by top tier offerings from Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

In interviews with Business Insider, executives from both brands said they are seriously considering a plug-in hybrid car. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) combine the ability to run on electricity stored in a battery with an internal combustion engine. They usually offer an EV mode range of under 40 miles, with the capability to drive over 200 more miles on traditional gas power.

With high fuel prices and governments (especially in the U.S. and Europe) cracking down on gas-guzzling cars, automakers everywhere are working to crank up their miles per gallon numbers. There are more hybrid, pure battery electric, and diesel vehicles on the market than ever before. They're not good options for the two ultra-luxury players, however.

Diesel offers great fuel economy. It's widely used in the Europe, and growing in popularity in the U.S. But it's not used for passengers cars in China or the Middle East, key regions for both brands. And because each sells so few cars, there's no sense in creating totally different products for each market.

For Chinese customers, "diesel is for trucks, end of story," Bentley Sales and Marketing Director Kevin Rose said. "It would be a brave person who comes along with a luxury diesel car for China." Torsten Müller-Ötvös, the CEO of Rolls-Royce, concurred. "It wouldn't make sense to introduce a diesel," he said.