Rolls-Royce Spectre

The Rolls-Royce Spectre is the first all-electric car from the luxury carmaker. It is a sort of spiritual successor to the Phantom and launched in India at an ex-showroom price of Rs. 7.5 crore! It had its global premiere in 2022, and the first unit in India was delivered to a customer in Chennai in November 2023. Let's take a look at the first ultra-luxurious electric two-door sedan built on the brand's all-aluminium space-frame has been architecture.

The Rolls-Royce Spectre shares the foundation with models like the Phantom, Ghost, and Cullinan. Therefore, this fully electric car still retains the iconic Rolls-Royce design, featuring split headlamps paying homage to the Phantom Coupe. The ultra-slim LED DRLs are positioned above the headlights, but the exterior highlight is the 'Pantheon' grille illuminated by 22 LEDs. This lights up in the dark and also is the broadest Rolls-Royce grille ever. The edges of the vanes have been smoothened out to direct air into the front through a flusher.

The emblem on the hood or the so-called trademark 'Spirit of Ecstacy' has also been modified with a narrower wingspan to make it more aerodynamic. Speaking of which, this huge EV is the most aerodynamic Rolls Royce vehicle ever with a drag coefficient of 0.25 cd. It's impressive for a car that is 5,475mm long, 2,144mm wide, 1,573mm tall, and has a weight of 2,890kg.

And it's not slab-sided as there's a gently sloping roofline with a distinctive shoulder line inspired by yachts. Then, huge 23-inch wheels make it look proportionate and there’s nothing extra-ordinary done to differentiate it like an electric Rolls-Royce. The latter in my opinion is a good thing as the sheer elegance of this brand has been retained.

The huge doors hinged towards the second row open the opposite side to reveal the Spectre's interior suite. It boasts a new front seat design influenced by British tailoring. Customers get the option to render the lapel parts in colours that complement or even contrast the exterior as you can see the bright orange here. These seats pamper you with comfort and get bespoke stitching, embroidery, and piping. All of this is intricately and tastefully done and also a part of the design process as stressed by the carmaker.

Moreover, you’d know Rolls-Royce cars are known for their opulent interiors with novelty factors like illuminated lighting on the roof that resembles stars in the galaxy. The Spectre is a step ahead with 'Starlight' doors that incorporate 4,796 such subtly illuminated stars on the door pad too. This is also the first time this has been done on any series-production Rolls-Royce. The personalisation can be detailed to the extent that these coach doors can be customised with a 'Canadel Panelling' backdrop. This design has been named after the southern French cove where Sir Henry Royce and his design team spent their winters. A great way to embed a part of Rolls-Royce's rich history and make it unique and appealing. Exquisite is what these cars are after all.

Doing things that are beyond the realm isn't anything shocking for people who know Rolls-Royce. Customers have asked for exclusive designs and the carmaker has delivered them. 'SPIRIT' is another such feature that handles the car's functions by integrating it with the brand's 'Whispers' application. This digital architecture is a first for Rolls-Royce customers to interact with the vehicle remotely and get all real-time information from the car.

All electronically operated controls including the ones for the doors add quite a lot of convenience to the otherwise out-of-reach door handles when the doors are opened. We don't have the specs and details of the safety features, or digital screens yet, but we are told the latter can be customised as well. For example, the instrument cluster's dials can be personalised to match the interior hues. And, we're told, this was inspired by the Roll-Royce customers' passion for customised watches. Quite interesting!

As we've seen with most Rolls-Royce cars, the carmaker employs its proprietary 6 ¾ V12 engine, but not for the Spectre. It's a fully electric vehicle with a set of electric motors on each of the wheels. As a result, this one's a 4WD behemoth that boasts 575bhp of outrageous power and a humongous 900Nm of torque. It enables the Spectre to get to 100kmph from a standstill in just 4.4 seconds! You'll appreciate it even more when you realise this isn't a lightweight supercar, but a mammoth weighing almost three tons! It's backed by a 102kWh battery pack that gives it a claimed range of 521km. And even 75 per cent of usable range is good enough, given any longer travel and the owners might just prefer to take their jet.

Like all Rolls-Royce cars, the Spectre can also be personalised according to a buyer's requirements. Be it the exterior and interior colours or the choice of upholstery, every customisation has a premium feel and cost to it. But the carmaker has set a base price of Rs. 7.5 crore (ex-showroom) for the Spectre, making it the priciest electric car in the world. Moreover, this two-door coupe still enjoys a niche in the Indian market with no direct competitors yet.