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Rolls-Royce Spectre unveiled: The Marque’s first fully-electric motor car

The Spectre is a statement of intent and a symbol of a bright, bold future as Rolls-Royce progresses into an all-electric era. Share

In 1900, Rolls-Royce co-founder, Charles Rolls, prophesied an electric future for the motor car. Having acquired an electric vehicle named The Columbia Electric Carriage, he foresaw its suitability as a clean, noiseless alternative to the internal combustion engine—providing there was sufficient infrastructure to support it. Today, more than 120 years later, the time has come for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars to fulfil the prophecy of its founding father.

Spectre is not only a historic moment for Rolls-Royce but also a historic moment for electrification—with Spectre, the marque confirms that the technology has reached a standard that can contain the Rolls-Royce experience. To that end, Rolls-Royce has confirmed that by the end of 2030 its entire product portfolio will be fully-electric.

Rolls-Royce Spectre unveiled: The Marque’s first fully-electric motor car

With Spectre, Rolls-Royce has harnessed a revolutionary ‘Decentralised Intelligence’ system that allows for the free and direct exchange of information between more than 1,000 vehicle functions, further elevating the marque’s celebrated quality of ride. Its designers have captured a contemporary yet timeless aesthetic that significantly progresses the brand’s iconography as it embarks on its electric age. Its craftspeople have created a suite of contemporary prêt-à-porter personalisation possibilities, including Starlight Doors and Illuminated Fascia, inspiring clients to realise their own Bespoke visions.

In unveiling Spectre, Rolls-Royce sets a new precedent in the creation of an entirely original class of motor car: the Ultra-Luxury Electric Super Coupé. This designation refers to Spectre’s indulgent proportions, specified in response to a commitment that there is no greater luxury than that of space. 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.

Rolls-Royce Spectre unveiled: The Marque’s first fully-electric motor car

The relaxed angle and polished stainless steel finish of the grille does 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 0.25cd makes Spectre Rolls-Royce’s most aerodynamic motor car, ever.

This intelligent treatment has been married to the iconography of Spectre’s spiritual predecessor, the Phantom Coupé. Spectre clearly acknowledges its forebear with its generous proportions and split headlight treatment—a contemporary Rolls-Royce design tenet. Spectre’s sharp daylight running lights emphasise the motor car’s imperious two-metre width and are offset with lower lamp clusters that appear darkened, at first glance, but hide jewellery box-like darkened chromium housings for the headlights. 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.

Rolls-Royce Spectre unveiled: The Marque’s first fully-electric motor car

In profile, the sharp, vertical bow line at the front of Spectre draws the eye rearward to its monolithic flanks. The lower line—known as the ‘waft line’—borrows directly from yacht design. Instead of exaggerating movement with busy detailing or appliqués, Spectre’s coachwork gently tucks into the sill, lightening the surfacing and creating an uncomplicated sense of motion by reflecting the road passing beneath it, much as the hull of a racing yacht reflects the ocean as it cuts through water. This ‘waft line’ is the visual representation of the ‘magic carpet ride’ and its upwards sweep toward the front is inspired by the gently lifting bow of an accelerating power boat.

The silhouette’s most dramatic feature is Spectre’s fastback, which recalls the most evocative motor cars and watercraft in history. The seamlessness of the greenhouse surfacing significantly contributes to achieving the lowest drag coefficient ever for a Rolls-Royce. Following the roofline back, the tail lamps are set into the largest single-body panel ever produced for a Rolls-Royce, which extends from the A-pillar to the luggage compartment.

Rolls-Royce Spectre unveiled: The Marque’s first fully-electric motor car

The jewel-like vertical tail lamps themselves are colourless for neutrality, in anticipation of the myriad of colourways selected by clients during the commissioning process. Their precision and reduced dimension complement the generous flow of the bodywork from the muscular shoulders backwards into the tail section with its characteristic tapering plan view.

The proportional demands of Spectre’s scale required Rolls-Royce to embolden its wheel strategy. Spectre is the first production two-door coupé to be equipped with 23-inch wheels in almost one hundred years. Inside, Spectre is provisioned with the most technologically advanced Bespoke features yet, drawing inspiration from the timeless mystique of the night’s sky. 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, which takes its name from the cove in the South of France where Sir Henry Royce and his design team spent their winters.

Rolls-Royce Spectre unveiled: The Marque’s first fully-electric motor car

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.

Alongside the extraordinary, illuminated surfaces, Spectre is 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 clients to interact with their car remotely, and receive live information curated by the marque’s luxury intelligence specialists.

Rolls-Royce Spectre unveiled: The Marque’s first fully-electric motor car

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 320 miles/520 kilometres WLTP and offer 900Nm of torque from its 430kW powertrain. It is anticipated to achieve 0-60mph in 4.4 seconds (0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds).

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.

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