Rolls-Royce will launch its first electric car later this year, the Specter noble coupe. The CEO of the luxurious brand, one of the assets of the BMW Group, Thorsten Müller recently confirmed what many have known for a long time: all future models of the English premium car manufacturer will be electric only. In doing so, the luxurious company seals over 100 years of classic combustion vehicles that have become true measure in the automotive industry.
“The guiding principle is first of all to preserve the values of the Rolls-Royce brand and secondly, to make the transition to the electric vehicle. This is why we chose the classic proportions of Rolls-Royce also for our first electric car Spectre,” Müller-Buss said in an interview with the media in Germany. “The Specter drives like a Rolls-Royce, accelerates like a Rolls-Royce, smells like a Rolls-Royce, has nice details like a panoramic “Starlight” roof, has the same materials – “and is still electric.”
At the very beginning, he says, it was decided that the car could not be partially electric or hybrid. “The Specter will be 5.5 meters long, and all new Rolls-Royce vehicles, at least in these proportions, will be electric,” he emphasizes again. The BMW subsidiary announced in 2021 that it will be fully electric by 2030. The existing models, however, will still be available with gasoline engines for a few more years so that the disconnection from the combustion engine will not be too sharp.
“Electricity is the future. I also think it fits the brand perfectly. We don’t have any philosophical problems saying goodbye to gasoline, and actually putting an end to all the growling engines that have accompanied us for so many years,” said the CEO. Specter will base a series of electric models on architecture Unique to Rolls-Royce. “You may see distinct technologies on this floor, but you’ll also see very different designs. That’s the magic of our aluminum-based floor – it’s easier to build different body styles.”
Aluminum compounds, and the combination of the battery make the Specter 30 percent stiffer than all previous vehicles of the brand, according to Rolls-Royce. The flexibility of the architecture makes it possible to maximize weight distribution, because a channel was created between the battery and the floor for the wiring and the vehicle’s air conditioning system. The battery is mounted low and creates a smooth bottom profile. “It not only creates a low seating position and a passenger cabin that wraps around you, but it serves a secondary function of the battery: almost 700 kilograms of noise insulation,” according to the developers.
According to Rolls-Royce’s marketing department, customers have been changing and asking for an electric Rolls-Royce for years long before the revolution gained momentum (primarily given a push by luxury brands like Audi and Jaguar). The maximum range of the Specter reaches 520 kilometers until the battery is depleted, and at least for the typical Rolls-Royce users, whose most trips are made between the estates and the horse races, there is no problem involving range anxiety. The price of the Specter is expected to exceed half a million dollars in the most sought-after versions.