Electric Spectre is 'most perfect Rolls-Royce ever', carmaker says
Range of 320 miles per charge ... and ultra-wafty
Rolls-Royce has fully unveiled its first pure-electric car, the Spectre, which it claims is the fulfilment of a prophecy by one of its co-founders, CS Rolls.
The Spectre is the spiritual successor to the imposing Phantom Coupé in both its dimensions and position within Rolls-Royce’s line-up and, according to the company, its electric powertrain makes it “the most perfect product Rolls-Royce has ever produced.”
The designers of the Spectre were inspired in their work by a vast range of influences including haute couture, modernist sculpture, contemporary art and tailoring.
Looming largest among those influences though is yacht design with the Spectre’s lines, particularly in the vertical front bow line and the way the fastback coupé roofline tapers away towards the rear.
Most aerodynamic Rolls-Royce ever
With a drag coefficient of 0.25 (the same as that of a second-generation Toyota Prius or second-gen Honda Insight), the Spectre is the most aerodynamic Rolls-Royce yet made. The vanes on the grille have been optimised for cleaner airflow and even the Spirit of Ecstasy sculpture adorning the bonnet was redesigned to hunker down lower so as not to generate as much drag.
The Spectre’s relatively slippery shape is all the more remarkable considering its enormous size and bluff front end that’s around two metres wide.
That’s not to say the design isn’t otherwise without Rolls-Royce’s characteristic ostentation: the grille is illuminated after dark, the whole car rides on a set of 23in alloy wheels and the rear lights have been deliberately left colourless to give customers a wider number of options as to their finish.
Starlit and digital interior
Inside, expect typical Rolls-Royce levels of hand-built luxury and, though the company hasn’t fully revealed the options list, some of the stand-out features include “starlight” doors embedded with 4,796 fibre-optic strands to produce a twinkling effect; a similar finish is present on the fascia, which features the Spectre nameplate surrounded by another 5,500 “stars”.
Citing its customers’ love of “bespoke timepieces” the look of the dials on the Spectre’s digital instrument cluster can be customised to better complement the near-endless array of interior options, with all of the car’s digital and connected functions working through Rolls’ new Spirit operating system.
The Spectre is built on Rolls-Royce’s all-aluminium Architecture of Luxury underpinnings (shared with the Phantom and Cullinan) making it 30% stiffer than any Rolls that has gone before.
Rolls hasn’t mentioned the specs for the battery yet, though it could potentially utilise the same 101.7kWh battery as parent-company BMW’s i7.
Up to 577bhp and 320-mile range
It has, however, given an estimated range figure of 320 miles between charges, along with maximum power and torque figures of 577bhp and 664lb ft, respectively, giving the Spectre a 0-60mph time of 4.4 seconds — quite brisk considering that the Spectre weighs 25kg shy of three tons.
The “planar” suspension system has, according to the company, been tested everywhere from Arjeplog proving ground in the Swedish Arctic to the hot, dusty conditions in southern Africa to — perhaps more pertinently given its clientele — the roads along the French Riviera.
The suspension system can de-couple the car’s anti-roll bars allowing the wheels to act independently reducing the rocking motion that results from hitting a pothole.
When the vehicle identifies an upcoming corner, the suspension stiffens the dampers, recouples the anti-roll bars and prepares the rear-wheel steering to activate. Monitoring the car under cornering are 18 sensors constantly adjusting various parameters to optimise the compromise between stability and ride quality.
Upon testing a Columbia electric car in 1900, Charles Stewart Rolls is reported to have said that the electric car is “perfectly noiseless and clean” with “no smell or vibration”.
“They should become very useful,” he predicted, “when fixed charging stations can be arranged.”
Rolls-Royce Spectre launch date and pricing
Quibbles about the UK’s EV charging infrastructure notwithstanding, that time has finally arrived for Rolls’ company, with the Spectre available for commission immediately and its market launch due in the fourth quarter of 2023. Rolls-Royce says that its entire portfolio will be electric by 2030.
Pricing for the Spectre hasn’t been finalised yet, but the company says to expect a starting price somewhere between that of the Phantom and Cullinan, which is to say around the £350,000 mark.
Related articles
- After reading about the new Rolls-Royce Spectre, you may be interested to read about the new Rolls-Royce Spectre completing Arctic testing
- You might like to know that Rolls-Royce has redesigned the Spirit of Ecstasy for the electric car age
- Also check out our review of the 2020 Rolls-Royce Ghost
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