The first electric Rolls-Royce is a replacement of sorts for the old Phantom Coupe.
Rolls-RoyceDespite the fact that electric cars were quite popular in the early 20th century, Rolls-Royce has never built one, until now. The Spectre is the first, an ultra-luxury coupe that serves as a replacement for the old Phantom Coupe. It heralds a new era for Rolls-Royce, which intends to be all-electric by 2030.
The Spectre rides on Rolls-Royce’s “Architecture of Luxury,” an all-aluminum platform that underpins the Phantom, Cullinan, and Ghost. The battery pack is integrated into the Spectre’s extruded aluminum spaceframe, and while Rolls-Royce doesn’t mention the energy capacity in its press release, it does tell us the battery pack weighs over 1500 pounds. Specifications aren’t finalized, but Rolls-Royce says that the electric powertrain will offer 577 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque—similar figures to its current V-12—and estimates the range will be around 260 miles.
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While not quite as large as the old Phantom Coupe, the Spectre is still enormous for a coupe. Its overall length of 214.685 inches is nearly as much as a long-wheelbase Mercedes S-Class, and it weighs 6559 pounds. Despite that, it does 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds and has a limited top speed of 155 mph.
Rolls-Royce does a couple of interesting things with the Spectre’s suspension, too. It’s a development of the “Planar” suspension system used on the new Ghost, which utilizes tuned mass dampers on the front upper wishbones, and a camera system that reads the road ahead and adjusts the air springs and adaptive dampers to compensate. In the Spectre, the ability to decouple anti-roll bars is added. This helps isolate each wheel from each other when driving straight, but when the car figures out you’re about to start cornering, it reengages the anti-roll bars.
The design is typically Rolls-Royce, with a long fastback roofline and rear-hinged doors that recall the old Wraith, and a backlit front grille like the Ghost. The Spirit of Ecstasy badge is ever-present on the hood, and the Spectre gets the very in-vogue lighting setup of thin daytime-running lights up top, smoked headlight lenses below. Wheels are 23 inches, a necessity to balance out the size of the car, says Rolls-Royce.
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Inside, it’s all familiar Rolls-Royce, too, though the interior spec on this launch car is quite, lurid. The signature Rolls-Royce starry night motif—which uses thousands of fiber-optic lights integrated into the headliner to recreate a starry night—now extends to the doors. Naturally, there’s a limitless amount of customization options for both exterior and interior.
Rolls-Royce isn’t announcing an exact price, but it says it should be somewhere between the $350,000 Cullinan and the $450,000 Phantom. Customer deliveries are expected in about a year’s time.
Chris Perkins Senior Editor Chris Perkins is the Web Editor for Road & Track magazine.
Keyword: The Rolls-Royce Spectre Is an Enormous, Ultra-Luxury EV Coupe