Rolls-Royce Spectre Unveiled: The Marque’s First Fully-Electric Motor Car

In 1900, Rolls-Royce co-founder, Charles Rolls, prophesied an electric future for the motor car. Having acquired an electric vehicle named The Columbia Electric Carriage, he foresaw its suitability as a clean, noiseless alternative to the internal combustion engine – providing there was sufficient infrastructure to support it. More than 120 years later, the time has come for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars to fulfil the prophecy of its founding father.

This prophecy could not have been fulfilled without a more recent promise, when Rolls-Royce CEO, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, made a public commitment to electrification by announcing that he would bring a fully-electric Rolls-Royce to market within the current decade. Charles Rolls’ prophecy and Torsten Müller-Ötvös’ promise led to a historic moment.

In September 2021, the marque confirmed that it had commenced testing for Spectre, the first Rolls-Royce to be conceived and engineered from the very beginning as an electric car.

To ensure that this transformative motor car was sufficiently prepared for the most demanding consumer in the world – the Rolls-Royce client – the marque devised the most exhaustive testing programme it had ever conceived.

Spectre is being subjected to a journey of more than 2.5 million kilometres, simulating more than 400 years of use for a Rolls-Royce. On its completion in 2023, Spectre will represent a prophecy fulfilled, a promise kept, and an undertaking completed.

All-Aluminium Architecture of Luxury

2003 saw the first Goodwood-era Phantom, built upon its Bespoke architecture. This renaissance of the brand was Rolls-Royce 1.0. Following this, the ‘Architecture of Luxury’ was conceived – a new, highly flexible all-aluminium spaceframe architecture and visionary feat of engineering that could be tailored for electric drive, as well as today’s Phantom, Cullinan and Ghost models and Coachbuild projects.

This expansion of the marque’s offering was  Rolls-Royce 2.0. The ability to tailor the Architecture of Luxury for electric drive was a fundamental consideration when it was first conceived. However, it is only now that electric drive technology is advanced enough to fulfil the Rolls-Royce experience.

Introducing a fully-electric powertrain and Decentralised Intelligence into the marque’s portfolio represents Rolls-Royce 3.0 and the beginning of the bold new all-electric era.

By ensuring from the outset that the Architecture of Luxury could be tailored to the requirements of an all-electric Rolls-Royce, the marque’s engineers ensured the continuity of experience from its current portfolio, each evolution of which has done much to secure the brand’s ongoing global success.

Indeed, the inherent flexibility of the architecture and ease of integration of an electric powertrain has freed engineers, designers and craftspeople to focus on the quality of experience, the authenticity of design and innovation in Bespoke.

For Spectre, Rolls-Royce engineers have unlocked further benefits. The sophisticated extruded aluminium sections and the battery’s integration into the motor car’s structure enable it to be 30% stiffer than any previous Rolls-Royce.

The architecture’s flexibility has also allowed engineers to place the floor halfway between the sill structures rather than on top or underneath. A channel has been created for wiring and climate control pipework between the battery and the floor, with the battery mounted underneath, providing a perfectly smooth underfloor profile. This not only creates a low seating position and enveloping cabin but realises a secondary function for the storm – almost 700kg of sound deadening.

Digital Engineering

For Spectre, Rolls-Royce’s engineers have seen much of their discipline pivot from the workshop to the digital space. Spectre is the most connected Rolls-Royce in history. In harnessing the power of the motor car’s remarkable Decentralised Intelligence processing capabilities, there is more requirement than ever for expert human experience.

To ensure the continuity of the Rolls-Royce experience and its progression, the marque selected the most experienced test and development engineers to lead the project, some of whom have been with the marque for more than two decades and were responsible for creating the first ‘Goodwood-era’ Phantom. These engineers describe the experience offered by Spectre as akin to “Rolls-Royce in high definition” because of the speed and accuracy of the motor car’s response to a worldwide spread of road and weather conditions.

For this to be realised, a dedicated control has been handmade for every 141,200 sender-receiver variables. In nearly all cases, engineers have designed several more sub-variables for variations in climate, ground speed, road type, vehicle status and driving style. These have been crafted over Spectre’s 2.5 million kilometre testing programme on advanced proving grounds and real roads worldwide.

Planar Suspension

In testing Spectre, the process includes extreme driving conditions – development of the motor car began just 55km from the arctic circle in Arjeplog, Sweden, at temperatures as low as -40 degrees centigrade, and it will continue across Southern Africa, in temperatures of up to 55 degrees Celsius.

Yet, 55% of testing is on the roads on which many production Spectres will be driven. Of particular significance was the French Riviera, and on the Côte d’Azur, Spectre’s digitally integrated evolution of the renowned Planar suspension system was finalised.

Planar suspension is an orchestra of systems with precisely defined responses to driver inputs and road conditions, made possible by the latest software and hardware developments, delivering Rolls-Royce’s hallmark ‘magic carpet ride.

Using a suite of new hardware components and leveraging Spectre’s high-speed processing capabilities, the Planar system can decouple the car’s anti-roll bars allowing each wheel to act independently, preventing the rocking motion that occurs when one side of a vehicle hits an undulation in the road. This also reduces high-frequency ride imperfections caused by shortcomings in road surface quality.

Once a corner is identified as imminent, the Planar system recouples the components and stiffens the dampers. The four-wheel steering system is then prepared for activation to ensure effortless entry and exit. Under cornering, 18 sensors are monitored, and steering, braking, power delivery and suspension parameters are adjusted so Spectre remains stable. The result is effortless control.

Power, Range and Dimensions

The final power, acceleration and range figures are still being refined as the extraordinary undertaking of finessing Spectre enters its final phase before concluding in the second quarter of 2023. Preliminary data shows Spectre is expected to have an all-electric range of 320 miles/520 kilometres WLTP and offer 900Nm of torque from its 430kW powertrain. It is anticipated to achieve 0-60mph in 4.4 seconds (0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds).

With many months of testing and optimisation of Spectre still ahead, these figures are subject to change ahead of official confirmation before the market launch in Q4 2023.

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

Market Debut

Spectre is available for commission immediately, with the first client deliveries commencing in Q4 2023. Spectre pricing will be positioned between Cullinan and Phantom.

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