Rolls-Royce Spectre revealed as the brand's 577-hp, all-electric 'most perfect product'
Rolls-Royce has made good on its promise to introduce its first (but not last, the company assures us) all-electric model: Spectre. Still a year away from showrooms, the new battery-powered sedan has reached the point where Rolls-Royce is comfortable sharing it with the world as its engineers work tirelessly to hammer out the details of a model the company first teased more than a year ago.
“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,” said Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös.
Its side profile may suggest that Spectre shares its underpinnings with the Wraith, but Rolls-Royce says that’s not the case. Aerodynamic drag be damned, Rolls-Royce went out of its way to redesign the Spirit of Ecstasy so that it could remain a fixture of the company’s design even in a world where even the smallest hint of turbulence can draw scrutiny. This is the first production implementation of the revised ornament.
Under the skin lies an all-aluminum architecture engineered to reduce mass wherever possible. This (and its derivatives) will be the platform upon which Rolls-Royce’s future EVs will ride; it’s also shared with the company’s latest round of petroleum-powered models. Rolls-Royce says it is also 30% stiffer than any previous model the company has sold, which is no mean feat considering the fact that its engineers incorporated the battery pack into the Spectre’s structure.
Integrating powertrain into the chassis can be a nightmare for internal combustion models, but Rolls-Royce says it has paid big dividends with Spectre. Mass dampening is one of the most effective means of controlling vehicle NVH, and very few components offer the density of a battery pack. All 700 kilograms (~1,540 pounds) pull double duty as sound deadening in the Spectre. That brings its total curb weight to just under 6,650 pounds — approximately 1,300 pounds heavier than the Wraith.
Rolls-Royce says it’ll have more than enough power to overcome that mass. While specifications of the battery pack and motors are not yet available, Rolls-Royce did confirm that it its targeting a power output of 577 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque. It should hit 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds on the way to a top speed of 155. With its 23-inch wheels, it should offer approximately 260 miles of range on the EPA cycle. That’s not an impressive figure by itself, but given the sheer scale of the Spectre, it sounds about right.
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