Rolls-Royce unveils its first EV, the Spectre

MANILA: Rolls-Royce has officially launched the Spectre, its first fully electric motor car.

In 1900, Rolls-Royce co-founder Charles Rolls predicted an electric future for the motor car. He purchased an electric vehicle, The Columbia Electric Carriage, and saw its potential as a clean, silent replacement for internal combustion engines.

“The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean. There is no smell or vibration. They should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged,” Rolls stated in 1900.

Now, the time has arrived for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars to realize its founder's vision more than 120 years ago.

Rolls-Royce Chief Executive Officer Torsten Muller-Otvos publicly committed to electrification by promising to release an all-electric Rolls-Royce within the next 10 years. A historic event resulted from Rolls' prophecy and Muller-Otvos' promise. Rolls-Royce announced in September 2021 that testing of the Spectre, the first model to be designed and engineered exclusively as an electric vehicle, has begun.

Rolls-Royce developed the most comprehensive testing procedure it had ever envisioned to make sure this revolutionary motor car was adequately ready for the most demanding customer in the world, the Rolls-Royce client. The Spectre is being put on a journey of more than 2.5 million kilometers to simulate more than 400 years of use for a Rolls-Royce. The Spectre will represent a prophecy fulfilled, a promise upheld, and an undertaking completed.

“Spectre possesses all the qualities that have secured the Rolls-Royce legend. This incredible motor car, conceived from the very beginning as our first fully-electric model, is silent, powerful and demonstrates how perfectly Rolls-Royce is suited to electrification. Spectre’s all-electric powertrain will assure the marque’s sustained success and relevance while dramatically increasing the definition of each characteristic that makes a Rolls-Royce a Rolls-Royce,” Muller-Otvos said.

The Spectre is not only a historic moment for Rolls-Royce, but also for electrification. With the Spectre, the carmaker affirms that technology has advanced to a level where it can complement the Rolls-Royce experience. Rolls-Royce has stated that by the end of 2030, every model in its lineup will be fully electrified.

The Spectre is more than just a motor car. It is a declaration of intent and a representation of a bright, ambitious future as  Rolls-Royce transitions to an all-electric era. This commitment to an all-electric powertrain will indeed enrich the Rolls-Royce experience. Instant torque, silent operation, and the sense of one imperceptible gear have characterized the features of an exceptional canon of products going all the way back to the very first Rolls-Royce, the 1904 10 H.P.

Rolls-Royce has developed a groundbreaking “Decentralized Intelligence” system for the Spectre that enables the free and direct interchange of information among more than 1,000 vehicle functions, further raising the brand's renowned level of ride quality. As the brand enters the electric era, its designers have successfully captured a modern yet classic aesthetic that substantially advances the visual language of the brand. Starlight Doors and Illuminated Fascia, two modern personalization options that Rolls-Royce craftspeople have developed, serve as inspiration for customers to realize their own bespoke ideas.

With the introduction of the Spectre, Rolls-Royce created a new standard for an entirely original class of motor cars, the Ultra-Luxury Electric Super Coupe. As a commitment that there is no greater luxury than that of space, this classification alludes to the Spectre's luxurious proportions.

Rolls-Royce designers have a strong connection to the context that holds their motor cars. They draw influence from a wide range of industries beyond automotive, such as high fashion, modernist sculpture, nautical design, tailoring, and contemporary art. The primary sketches for the Spectre were inspired by contemporary yacht designs, particularly their creative use of reflection, clarity and precision of line, and use of taper to emotionalize silhouettes.

The widest grille ever given to a Rolls-Royce cuts across the Spectre's split headlamp treatment. To better direct airflow across the front of the vehicle, the Pantheon grille's vanes have been reshaped to provide a smoother section and a flusher fit.

The grille's relaxed angle and polished stainless steel finish effectively improve the Spectre's visibility by enhancing environmental reflection. The grille improves the vehicle's record-breaking drag coefficient, which at only 0.25cd makes the Spectre Rolls-most Royce's aerodynamic model ever. It also comes with an aero-tuned Spirit of Ecstasy figurine, which was created after 830 hours of combined design modeling and wind tunnel testing.

The Phantom Coupe's iconography has been combined with this clever approach to create the Spectre. The Spectre unmistakably honors its forebear with its wide proportions and split headlamp treatment. Sharp daytime running lights emphasize the vehicle's imposing two-meter width and are contrasted by lower lamp clusters that initially appear dark but actually conceal headlight housings that look like darkened jewelry boxes. The grille is subtly illuminated with 22 LEDs lighting up the sandblasted rear of each of the vanes, their delicate glow projected in the polished front surfaces for an intricate three-dimensional night signature.

The monolithic flanks of the Spectre are brought into focus by the prominent, vertical bow line at the front. The lower line, also referred to as the “waft line,” clearly draws from yacht design. The  Spectre's coachwork gently sneaks into the sill, lightening the surfacing and producing a relatively simple sense of motion by reflecting the road passing beneath it, much like the hull of a racing yacht reflects the ocean as it cuts through water. This avoids exaggerating movement with busy detailing. The upward sweep toward the front of this “waft line,” which serves as a symbol of the “magic carpet ride,” is inspired by the bow of an accelerating power boat.

The most striking aspect of the silhouette is the Spectre's fastback, which evokes some of history's most iconic motor cars and vessels. The greenhouse's seamless surface played a vital role in achieving the lowest drag coefficient ever recorded for a Rolls-Royce. The largest single body panel ever created for a Rolls-Royce, which stretches from the A-pillar to the luggage compartment, is where the tail lamps are located, following the roofline back. The jewel-like vertical tail lamps are colorless to be neutral in preparation for the several colorways that customers might choose during the commissioning phase. Their precision and reduced dimension matches the broad flow of the bodywork from the powerful shoulders back into the tail section with its distinctive tapering plan view.

The scale requirements of the Spectre prompted Rolls-Royce to expand its wheel strategy. The Spectre is the first two-door coupe in production with 23-inch wheels in almost a century.

The most cutting-edge bespoke features ever are installed within the Spectre, which was designed with inspiration from the timeless majesty of the night sky. The Spectre is offered with Starlight Doors, which feature 4,796 gently illuminated “stars,” a first for a Rolls-Royce in series production. The Canadel Paneling, which gets its name from the cove in the South of France where Sir Henry Royce and his design team spent their winters, can also be ordered as a backdrop for the coach doors.

The Spectre's Illuminated Fascia carries on the mystical nighttime concept. It has the Spectre nameplate surrounded by a cluster of more than 5,500 stars and was created over the period of two years and more than 10,000 cumulative hours. The illuminations, which are on the passenger side of the dashboard, are completely hidden when the vehicle is not in motion.

Along with the remarkable illuminated surfaces, the Spectre has a fully redesigned digital luxury architecture called Spirit, which is presented in classic Rolls-Royce fashion. The operations of the motor car will be managed by Spirit, which is also seamlessly linked into Rolls-Royce's Whispers application. This enables customers to engage with their cars remotely and receive real-time data compiled by the carmaker's luxury intelligence specialists.

Customers are now able to extend their bespoke commission into the digital architecture that powers Spirit. The color of the dials can now match the interior color, drawing inspiration from the Rolls-Royce's customers' fondness of bespoke timepieces.

“At Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, perfection is about more than making the very best products. It is a culture, an attitude and our guiding philosophy. Indeed, it is our founding father Sir Henry Royce who said, ‘strive for perfection in everything you do’. Spectre has been conceived within this culture. It is perfectly in tune with the sensibilities of our time. It states the direction for the future of our marque and perfectly answers a call from the most discerning individuals in the world to elevate the electric motor car experience, because Spectre is a Rolls-Royce first and an electric car second,” Muller-Otvos stated.

Like all Rolls-Royce motor cars, the interior of the Spectre provides customers with practically endless bespoke options. The new front seat design was influenced by British tailoring with lapel sections that can be made in either complementary or contrasting colors to the main base. As always, bespoke stitching, embroidery, and exquisite piping were taken into consideration.

In 2003, the first Goodwood-era Phantom, constructed with its own bespoke architecture, made its debut. Rolls-Royce 1.0 marked the brand's revival. This led to the creation of the "Architecture of Luxury," a new, highly versatile, all-aluminum spaceframe architecture that was a brilliant engineering marvel and could be customized for electric drive, as well as the Phantom, Cullinan, and Ghost models of today, and Coachbuild projects. Rolls-Royce 2.0 was the brand's extension of its product line. When the Architecture of Luxury was first envisioned, the ability to adapt it for electric drive was a key factor. The Rolls-Royce experience, however, can only be fully realized now that electric propulsion technology has developed enough. The introduction of a fully electric powertrain and Decentralized Intelligence to the brand's portfolio marks Rolls-Royce 3.0 and the start of the bold new all-electric era.

“This is the start of a bold new chapter for our marque, our extraordinary clients and the luxury industry. For this reason, I believe Spectre is the most perfect product that Rolls-Royce has ever produced,” Muller-Otvos added.

The final power, acceleration, and range figures are still being refined as the phenomenal project of perfecting Spectre approaches its final stage before concluding in the second quarter of 2023. According to preliminary data, the 430kW Spectre powertrain is expected to produce 900Nm of torque and have an all-electric range of 520km. It is expected to accelerate from 0 to 100kph in 4.5 seconds.

Rolls-Royce Spectre is now available for commission, with the first customer deliveries starting in the fourth quarter of 2023. Pricing for the Spectre will fall in between the Cullinan and the Phantom.

Photos from Rolls-Royce

Also read: Rolls-Royce remembers Spectre name to be used in marque's first EV