Rolls-Royce electrifies luxury with Spectre

The reveal of a brand new Rolls-Royce model is a rare occasion, but when it’s a model that the founder of the luxury automaker wanted to make 120 years ago, it’s even more special. The fulfilment of that ambition is the new Rolls-Royce Spectre, the brand’s first electric vehicle (EV) as it embarks on a journey to make its new models all-electric by 2030.

Wanted was one of a select group of media to attend the official unveiling, an event that followed the opportunity for over 300 prospective buyers to see the car, all of whom placed an order, says company CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös. However, he wasn’t the most senior exec in attendance; such was the importance of the event that BMW Group chair Oliver Zipse jetted into Goodwood in southern England for it.

“It’s extraordinary to think that 120 years ago, Charles Rolls had already understood the potential of the electric drive, but it’s only today that we have the technology to create a fully electric vehicle that meets the discerning standards of the Rolls-Royce marque,” said Zipse. “Rolls-Royce is the first super-luxury brand to unveil a fully electric car and a pioneer once again. It will also be a pioneer within the BMW Group when it becomes our first brand to build only fully electric vehicles from the end of 2030.”

That understanding of the potential of electric vehicles came in 1900, when Charles Rolls drove a Columbia Electric Carriage and immediately understood what it meant for the brand that was to become so synonymous with luxury motoring for decades to come.

“The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean,” Rolls said at the time. “There’s no smell or vibration, and they should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged.”

Petrol took over, of course, but today the EV is back and according to Müller-Ötvös, it suits the marque perfectly.

“Electric drive is uniquely and perfectly suited to Rolls-Royce, more so than any other automotive brand; silent, instant torque and tremendous power, just like our beloved V12s,” he said. “So where have Charles Rolls’s prophecy and promise led us? They have led us here, to Rolls-Royce Spectre.”

In modern times, it’s a journey that started with the Rolls-Royce 102EX experimental electric Phantom in 2011, a car which was followed by the far more futuristic 103EX in 2016. Both were used to gauge interest from clients in electrification and it seems as times have changed, so, too, have the clients themselves.

“Spectre represents the future of our brand, in tune with a new era of luxury, because today, luxury goods are increasingly sought after as an expression of an individual,” said Müller-Ötvös. “They are a reflection of each client’s personality and values, as well as the marker of their achievements. Luxury clients are getting younger and they reward themselves with innovative and enriching bespoke personalisation.”

That reward is likely to cost over $350 000 (R6,3 million), but for that you get the first electric Rolls-Royce, one that uses a 430kW, 900Nm electric power train to pull its 2,975kg weight to 100km/h in 4.5 seconds and deliver an expected driving range of about 520km.

It’s not about the numbers though, but rather about the luxury and design with inspiration from yachts, modernist sculpture, haute couture and art. Design director Anders Warming gave us a private walk around the Spectre and explained that as well as having the widest grille in the brand’s history, they also spent 830 hours refining the famous Spirit of Ecstasy sculpture in a wind tunnel to make her as aerodynamic as possible. The theme of cutting through the air efficiently carries through the rest of the model, too; the car sitting on what appears to be a platform about its lower edge, while the main bodywork has a sculpted form that tapers into the coupé rear.

The coach doors are the widest in the brand’s history at 1.5m long, but they open to a sumptuous interior that features four individual seats rather than being two up front and two only for the kids. There’s an element of familiarity, though, with areas like the dashboard and instrumentation sharing many design cues with other Rolls-Royce models, though, of course, there are new touches.

“There’s a certain haptic interaction,” he says. “It might just be a volume control, for example, but there’s a certain celebration of that, even the actual buttons, the door handles, which are cold to the touch. Our clients really appreciate our jewellery pieces.”

The passion was clear as Warming took us about the car and he explained that it has been a dream project for him and his team, creating something that not only ushers in a new era for Rolls-Royce, but which he is confident will stand the test of time.

“We were able to build our dream car and make it electric,” he told us. “We see ourselves not just as curators of the brand, but also [as] the custodians of the brand. We wish that even in 100 years time, as the design team, people will say that we did a good job.”

There are still a few elements to finish though, such as the design beneath that long bonnet where once we would have expected to find a V12 engine. There won’t be any storage space in there like other EVs and Warming says they will probably only sign off the final design about the middle of 2023 before deliveries start in the fourth quarter. Before that there is also more testing to be done, including over the summer in Southern Africa.

Rolls-Royce might be over 120 years old, but with the Spectre it has come full circle to embrace the electrification that Charles Rolls once predicted. It’s a new chapter for the brand, a new chapter for luxury motoring and one which reflects the true spirit of the Whisper mascot that originally adorned that famous grille.