Named for a series of Rolls-Royce concept cars, rather than the 2015 James Bond film of the same title, the new Spectre “super coupé” nevertheless shares a few happy coincidences with its filmic namesake.
Whisper-quiet, expensive, and likely to be the sole province of shadowy power brokers who summer in Val d’Orcia and winter in Antibes, this fully electrified design embodies a landmark moment for Rolls-Royce: propelled along by technology that will supersede the marque’s V12 engines within the next eight years; and projected by bean counters to net one-fifth of the company’s sales when it begins delivering late next year.
Already shown to a “significant” number of Rolls-Royce’s most valued clients in secret, spokespeople have confirmed that, going forward, the Spectre will be the brand’s only two-door model – succeeding the soon-to-be discontinued Wraith and Dawn lineups.
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Rather than many of the challenges that are habitually associated with going electric (i.e. mundane engine dynamics and the absence of a throaty, suitably expensive-sounding exhaust note) Rolls-Royce engineers claimed that, with the Spectre, their biggest obstacle centred on dialling back the car’s EV-ness.
As such, though the new model is capable of producing up to 567hp and boasts a launch speed of 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds – on par with the Black Badge Ghost – that performance translates into an “imperious” driving experience rather than a hyper-dynamic one.
While not as alarmingly silent as at the prototyping stage, the Spectre that select customers are soon to take delivery of possesses a world-class quietude – with only the smallest amount of cabin noise permitted, so that drivers can tell they’re actually in motion.
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Cognisant of the fact that the Spectre’s average customer probably has multiple vehicles at their disposal, Rolls-Royce decided early on to limit the car’s range (at full charge) to 260 miles. Crucially, the space saved on more powerful batteries means the Spectre is equipped with the full range of mod cons: identical to what you’d find in any ‘RR’ badged model with an internal combustion engine.
Non-exhaustively, this includes multiple displays; a “digital architecture” allowing owners to remotely manage the car’s functions; and in a new twist, “starlight doors” outfitted with a matrix of 4,796 dots that illuminate the cabin.
Exact pricing information has yet to be disclosed, but expect the Spectre to retail – before on-roads – somewhere between $692,150 to $915,400 (the starting price of the Cullinan and Phantom ranges respectively).
