The first production Rolls-Royce powered by batteries, the two-door Spectre coupe, leads the luxury brand's switch to a purely electric model line-up by 2030.
The Spectre is named after a series of 20th-century Rolls-Royce prototypes, not the recent James Bond action movie. It's billed as the "spiritual successor" to the Phantom Coupe of 2008-16 and it indirectly replaces the Dawn coupe.
The Spectre's grille is the widest that Rolls has ever produced, and it is softly backlit by 22 LEDs. The company states that the Spectre is aerodynamically optimized with a drag coefficient of 0.25.
The Spectre has the most technologically advanced cabin of any Rolls-Royce product so far, and one of its best features is the optional Starlight Doors. These doors incorporate 4,796 illuminated dots in the interior (excluding the headliner). The front seats are also new for the Spectre and have been inspired by British tailoring.
Spectre is Rolls-Royce second most potent car ever, with production level on par with the company's reliance on BMW for its twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engines.
Preliminary specifications published by Rolls-Royce show power and torque outputs of 577 horsepower (430 kilowatts) and 664 pound-feet (900 Newton-meters) of instant torque. The estimated EPA range is up to 260 miles (418 kilometers) on a single charge, while the projected 0-60 miles per hour (0-96 kilometers per hour) acceleration is 4.4 seconds. Estimated driving range according to the European WLTP protocol is 520 km (323 miles).
Rolls-Royce Spectre dimensions:
- Number of doors / seats: 2 doors / 4 seats
- Vehicle length: 5453 mm / 214.685 in
- Vehicle width: 2080 mm / 81.889 in
- Vehicle height (unladen): 1559 mm / 61.377 in
- Wheelbase: 3210 mm / 126.378 in
- Turning circle: 12.7 m
- Kerb weight: 2975 kg
The Spectre is equipped with 23-inch alloy wheels, which Rolls-Royce claims are the "first production two-door coupe to be equipped with 23-inch wheels in almost one hundred years." The 'Planar' suspension system is capable of decoupling the anti-roll bars to allow the wheels to react to bumps independently and prevent "the rocking motion that occurs when one side of a vehicle hits an undulation in the road," according to the car maker.
As soon as a corner is detected, the anti-roll bars are reconnected, the adaptive suspension is set to a stiffer setting, and the rear-wheel steering system is prepared to turn more sharply.
Development of the 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre will be completed in mid 2023 - and afterwards, final specifications can be set, before customer deliveries between October and December 2023. The order books are now open, but there is no detailed pricing - the automaker only says that the Spectre will be positioned between the $341,500 Cullinan and $460,000 Phantom.
Source: Rolls-Royce