► Production version of all-electric Rolls coupe revealed
► First deliveries in late 2023, priced around £350,000
► Doubling in size of Goodwood factory planned
Announced in late 2021, extensively tested through 2022 and due to reach its first customers in the fourth quarter of 2023, this is the new Rolls-Royce Spectre, revealed for the first time in its completed production guise.
It’s a long, low two-door, four-seat coupe, built on a new version of the aluminium chassis employed in the current Phantom, Cullinan and Ghost, and propelled by an electric motor on each axle. Making 577bhp and 664lb ft, it has a range of 323 miles helped by efficiency of 2.9 miles per kWh and a drag co-efficient of just 0.25 – the most aerodynamic Rolls so far.
It’s also the stiffest, by 30 per cent, helped by the battery being integrated in the structure. And it’s the heaviest production Rolls ever, at 2975kg. It has the widest grille ever, and a new version of the Spirit of Ecstasy – the new-look mascot the result of 830 hours of wind-tunnel testing and modelling. The car is 5453mm long, 2080mm wide, 1559mm high, with a wheelbase of 3210mm.
In general stance and proportions, the model it most closely resembles is the Phantom Coupe, produced between 2008 and 2016, although many of the lines are more indebted to yacht design – a big theme among Rolls customers.
Many personalisation options are offered, several of them involving intricate LED lighting in the doors and facia.
It has all-wheel drive and all-wheel steering. The standard wheels are 23 inches, while the suspension is an evolution of Rolls-Royce’s adaptive Planar system, which uses sensors and smart software to know when to decouple the anti-roll bars, allowing the wheels to act independently on uneven surfaces, then recouple them and stiffen the dampers ready for the next corners. Calibration work will continue over the next few months, as Rolls engineers complete their extensive on-road and on-track test schedule, aiming to get the balance right between plushness and dynamism.
Sitting in the car at the unveiling at the Goowood factory, it’s a low, luxurious environment, and very traditional, with lots of buttons and switches.
Design director Anders Warming said: ‘Our clients would regret if we took away that element of luxury and cossetting environment, with the soft leathers and the woods.’
His approach was to make it a Rolls-Royce first, and an electric car second. ‘It’s paving the path for the electric future of Rolls-Royce. What you see here is a car that’s 100% working with the DNA of Rolls-Royce. You immediately see the poise, the composure, the waftability of the car. You know it’s a Rolls-Royce at heart, and then the electrification on top. It’s fine art on wheels.’
Chief executive Torsten Müller-Ötvös said the Spectre was built in response to demand from customers, who in many cases already own an electric car from another manufacturer. He called the Spectre the first luxury all-electric coupe, and said all new Rolls-Royces would be electric by the end of 2030.
‘We lead because we listen. We listen to our clients, people with whom we have a very special relationship.’
The order book was already bulging, a year ahead of the first customers getting their cars – one reason why Rolls-Royce is seeking planning permission for a major expansion of its current campus-style factory on the Goodwood estate. That would make room for a new paintshop – needed in part because of the rise in demand for two-tone paint schemes – as well as the engineering and logistics operations.Current output is around 7000 cars a year. Müller-Ötvös said he wouldn’t want to go above 10,000 cars, to preserve the sense of exclusivity.
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