(Napa Valley, Calif.) More than 10 years after unveiling its first electric concept, Rolls-Royce is reconnecting everything.
Who needs a Rolls-Royce? Basically, no one. However, this does not prevent the English brand from producing a few thousand a year. Its latest addition, the Spectre, carries its luxury in silence.
At Rolls-Royce, it’s said that what sets the house apart from other luxury brands is three things: craftsmanship, authenticity and build quality. Even electric, the Specter is no exception. The specifications that Torsten Muller-Otvos, president of the brand, imposes on his troops leaves no room for improvisation. “Regardless of the power source responsible for moving it, the Specter had above all to be a Rolls-Royce”, he recites like a mantra.
The message has been heard. The order, perfectly respected. The Specter is a Rolls-Royce, a real one. It has the presence, the opulence, the chic and, of course, the price. Each unit produced will, like every other Rolls-Royce, be crafted with all the meticulousness in the world by craftsmen. The machine helps, but will never replace either the eye or the hand of these men and women who decorate these palaces on wheels with noble, precious and expensive materials…
A Rolls-Royce before being an electric vehicle. This precept is also echoed in the design of this extraordinary vehicle. Although the British firm insists that its entire production will switch to all-electric by 2030, it is not undertaking this transition from scratch.
It never occurred to the designers of the Specter to distribute the body volumes differently. Moreover, by its length, the hood gives the impression of housing a huge gasoline engine. Nor have they considered presenting a more enviable size/livability ratio. Although they recognize that they could have ventured further, the timing was apparently bad. The plant can hardly assemble more than 6,000 vehicles per year (all models combined) and does not have the flexibility to juggle different platforms.
All is not lost. While the Specter doesn’t maximize all the benefits, it does get some. Thus, the modifications made to the chassis made it possible to stiffen it by 30%. They have also eliminated the need for so many sound-absorbing materials. Rolls-Royce says it eliminated some 700 kg. Luckily, otherwise the car would have weighed nearly 4 tons.
The wide antagonistic doors – the longest ever produced – open onto a cabin that you decorate as your home. When the Spectre was launched internationally, each of the seven units was customized by the company’s Bespoke subsidiary. The services of the latter are retained by the vast majority of Rolls buyers, and it is not for fear that their vehicle will resemble that of the neighbor. Purple, yellow, white, the range of leathers seems endless. Just like the color of the carpet, even thicker than a neglected lawn.
What does not change, however, is the spectacularly illuminated headlining with a thousand diodes. This almost pyrotechnic spectacle, much appreciated by customers, prompted its designers to cross out the sunroof from the list of accessories.
On the other hand, the manufacturer has buried certain information very deeply in the screen of its infotainment system. This is particularly the case for the energy efficiency of its thrusters, to which we will return.
Plush, extremely comfortable, all the seats on board (yes, including the rear) invite you to travel. They better not be too long. The trunk volume might struggle to swallow all your luggage.
Driving a Rolls-Royce, even electric, is nothing exceptional in itself, once you have tamed its dimensions and weight. This coupe doesn’t provide the thrill of speed when accelerating, although it only takes 4.5 seconds to reach the top speed allowed on our fast lanes. The thrust of these two original BMW thrusters (one at the front and the other at the rear) is frank, of course, but does not aim to knock anyone’s hair off. You’ll only feel like this Rolls-Royce is hurrying without rushing.
Behind the wheel, the Specter spins fast and well, but doesn’t fly over big imperfections in the road with as much composure as other Rolls-Royces. The steering allows you to guide it through the meanders with relative ease, but neither its precision nor its flexibility will help you when it comes time to park it. Its turning circle is similar to that of an ocean liner.
The Specter needs space. Lots of space and lots of watts too. The energy efficiency of this English is not its first quality. Neither does its autonomy. “None of our customers really care,” a brand representative whispers to me. And for good reason, they have, on average, seven other vehicles in their garage.
495 600 $
None
26.7 kWh/100 km (best achieved)/102 kWh
The energy source is secondary. It’s a Rolls-Royce first.
La Presse will soon publish the test of the following vehicles: Ford Mustang, Toyota Crown and Volkswagen Atlas. If you own one of these vehicles, we’d love to hear from you about your experience.
We are in 2011. At that time, the BMW group was trying to gauge the potential and acceptability of the electric vehicle among the general public. And its shareholders too. All brands of the group presented a vehicle. Including Rolls-Royce, which took advantage of its visit to the Geneva Motor Show to unveil the 102eX. A concept developed on the basis of a Phantom sedan. To measure how far we’ve come since, the 102eX powered its two electric motors (these only drove the rear wheels) from a 71 kWh battery housed under the hood.
Rarely do we have the opportunity to study a Rolls-Royce closely, but the Specter deserves a little more attention. The mascot symbolizing the spirit of ecstasy (The Spirit of Ecstasy) looks different. Her sails (no, they’re not wings) don’t lift as much as they used to. Do not see this as a reaction to any movement. This “new” dress required more than 800 hours of work in the wind tunnel and above all reduced the aerodynamic drag coefficient of the Spectre.
