Rolls-Royce made a public commitment to electrification by announcing that it would bring a fully-electric Rolls-Royce to market within the current decade. In September 2021, the marque confirmed that it had commenced testing of Spectre, the first Rolls-Royce to be conceived and engineered from the very beginning as an electric car.
Spectre is being subjected to a journey of more than 2.5 million kilometres, simulating more than 400 years of use for a Rolls-Royce. To that end, the brand has confirmed that by 2030 its entire product portfolio will be fully electric.
Design
Rolls-Royce sets a new precedent with the creation of an entirely original class of motor cars; the Ultra-Luxury Electric Super Coupé.
From the front, Spectre’s split headlight treatment is intersected by the widest grille ever bestowed on a Rolls-Royce. The vanes of the Pantheon grille are now smoother in section and have a flusher fit, designed to help guide the air around the motor car’s front.
The relaxed angle and polished stainless steel finish of the grille do much to enhance Spectre’s presence using environmental reflection. Along with an aero-tuned Spirit of Ecstasy figurine – itself the product of 830 combined hours of design modelling and wind tunnel testing – the grille enhances the motor car’s unprecedented drag coefficient, which at just 0.25 Cd makes Spectre Rolls-Royce’s most aerodynamic motor car, ever.
To affirm Spectre’s expression after dark, the grille is softly illuminated, with 22 LEDs lighting up the sandblasted rear side of each of the vanes, their gentle glow reflected in the polished front surfaces for a subtle and three-dimensional night signature.
Bespoke features
Inside, Spectre is provisioned with the most technologically advanced Bespoke features yet. For the first time on a series production Rolls-Royce, Spectre is available with Starlight Doors, which incorporate 4,796 softly illuminated ‘stars’. The coach doors can also be commissioned with a backdrop of wood Canadel Panelling.
The ethereal night-time theme continues with Spectre’s Illuminated Fascia. Developed over the course of two years and more than 10,000 collective hours, it incorporates the Spectre nameplate surrounded by a cluster of over 5,500 stars. Located on the passenger side of the dashboard, the illuminations are completely invisible when the motor car is not in operation.
SPIRIT Software
Spectre is also equipped with a completely redesigned digital architecture of luxury named SPIRIT, presented in quintessential Rolls-Royce style. Not only will SPIRIT manage the motor car’s functions, but it is seamlessly integrated into the marque’s Whispers application, allowing you to interact with your car remotely, and receive live information curated by the marque’s luxury intelligence specialists.
For the first time ever, you are now able to extend their Bespoke commission beyond the physical world and into the digital architecture that underpins SPIRIT. Inspired by the marque’s clients’ love of bespoke timepieces, the colour of the dials can now complement the interior hue of the motor car.
As with all Rolls-Royce motor cars, Spectre’s interior suite offers clients near-infinite Bespoke possibilities. The all-new front seat design has been inspired by British tailoring, with lapel sections that can be rendered in contrasting or matching colours to the main base. Bespoke stitching, embroidery and intricate piping has, as ever, been considered in their inception.
Planar Suspension
In testing Spectre, the process includes extreme driving conditions – development of the motor car began just 55km from the arctic circle in Arjeplog, Sweden, at temperatures as low as -40 degrees centigrade, and it will continue across Southern Africa, in temperatures of up to 55 degrees centigrade. Yet, 55% of testing is taking place on the very roads that many production Spectres will be driven on. Of particular significance was the French Riviera. It was on the Côte d’Azur that Spectre’s digitally integrated evolution of the renowned Planar suspension system was finalised.
Planar suspension is an orchestra of systems with precisely defined responses to driver inputs and road conditions, made possible by the latest software and hardware developments, delivering Rolls-Royce’s hallmark ‘magic carpet ride’.
Using a suite of new hardware components and leveraging Spectre’s high-speed processing capabilities, the Planar system can decouple the car’s anti-roll bars allowing each wheel to act independently, preventing the rocking motion that occurs when one side of a vehicle hits an undulation in the road. This also reduces high-frequency ride imperfections caused by shortcomings in road surface quality.
Once a corner is identified as imminent, the Planar system recouples the components and stiffens the dampers, the four-wheel steering system is then prepared for activation to ensure effortless entry and exit. Under cornering, 18 sensors are monitored, and steering, braking, power delivery and suspension parameters are adjusted so that Spectre remains stable. The result is effortless control.
Power, Range, Dimension
The final power, acceleration and range figures are still being refined, as the extraordinary undertaking of finessing Spectre enters its final phase before concluding in the second quarter of 2023. Preliminary data shows that Spectre is expected to have an all-electric range of 520 kilometres /320 miles WLTP and offer 900Nm of torque from its 430kW powertrain. It is anticipated to achieve 0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds. (0-60mph in 4.4 seconds).
- Number of doors / seats: 2 doors / 4 seats
- Vehicle length: 5453 mm / 214.685 in
- Vehicle width: 2080 mm / 81.889 in
- Vehicle height (unladen): 1559 mm / 61.377 in
- Wheelbase: 3210 mm / 126.378 in
- Turning circle: 12.7 m
- Kerb weight: 2975 kg
With many months of testing and optimisation of Spectre still ahead, these figures are subject to change ahead of official confirmation prior to market launch in Q4 2023.
Market Debut
Spectre is available for commission immediately, with first client deliveries commencing in Q4 2023. Spectre pricing will be positioned between Cullinan and Phantom.
