Lianne Dhalla | 19 Oct 2022 02:19 PM
Seeing as the car shares a name with the latest Bond film, it only makes sense that it is an absolute James Bond (or Johnny English)-worthy beauty. While whispers of this invention were making their rounds of the streets about a year ago, after several million kilometres of testing, the Rolls- Royce Spectre has finally been unveiled. With a timely entrance into the EV market, this all-electric two-door coupe has channelled all that was good about the Phantom Coupe with an electric twist. This is one of the company’s first steps to becoming all-electric by 2030.
Following the ‘Architecture of Luxury’ that underpins the current Phantom, the Spectre sports that familiar long bonnet, clean profile and fastback shape, which has grown to be synonymous with the Rolls-Royce name. But, while there are obvious cues to the existing models, this car claims to draw inspiration from the modern yacht concept. Measuring 5.45m in length and more than 2m in width with the widest ever Rolls Royce grille, riding on 23-inch wheels. For a little bit of context, the Spectre is even larger than the four-door Mercedes EQS!
Designed for aerodynamic efficiency, the car has a drag coefficient of 0.25, which is the best we’ve seen from the brand. Additional design perks include 22 LEDs for soft illumination at night, a split headlamp design and a fastback roof panel. We could go on and on about the design, because well it has been a major focus of this model.
That said, it’s not all looks. With the all-aluminium spaceframe architecture, the Spectre is claimed to be about 30% stiffer than any previous Rolls-Royce. It does include active suspension and four-wheel steering. While the car has been fully revealed, the Spectre is still in the final stage of testing. The data collected suggests that the Spectre will have a range of 520km on the WLTP cycle and the all-electric engine can produce 585hp and 900Nm of torque. Not bad at all for an electric vehicle. Well, since this is what most of you came here for… the Spectre can do 0-100 in 4.5 seconds. All that at 3 tonnes! While this is all very impressive, we must keep in mind that these figures could change by the time testing concludes in the second quarter of 2023.
The Spectre is set to launch officially in the fourth quarter of 2023. Rolls-Royce has, though bookings have been opened globally with deliveries set to commence immediately after the launch. The Rolls-Royce Spectre will likely be priced somewhere between the Cullinan and Phantom.
But we wouldn’t be Stuff if we didn’t bring you the tech goodies… do let’s dive into Rolls-Royce’s new software platform – the ‘Spirit’. This reinvigorated digital architecture will not only manage the motor car’s functions but is also integrated into the marque’s Whispers application, enabling clients to interact with their car remotely and receive live data. While Rolls Royce had so far been using a BWM-derived infotainment software. Rolls-Royce is also offering services with software that enables you to even change the colour of the dial to match your interiors.
Most intriguingly, the dashboard panel on the passenger side is illuminated with the ‘Spectre’ nameplate, with a collection of over 5,500 star-like illuminations surrounding it. The Spectre offers customers infinite customisation options, just as the boujee folks who can afford it would demand!