The $420,000 Rolls-Royce Spectre isn’t beholden to conventional electrical automotive requirements. Who cares how briskly the battery pack fees? That’s an issue in your assistant, or your assistant’s assistant. Must journey farther than the Spectre’s 300-ish-mile driving vary? No massive deal. Simply take certainly one of your gas-powered Rolls-Royces. Or your aircraft. Absolutely you have got a aircraft.
None of that is hyperbole, by the best way; have you ever ever truly met a Rolls-Royce proprietor? These individuals are not going to place themselves by means of the unfathomable hardship of compromising simply to allow them to park an EV in one of many many garages of their many properties. Due to this, the Spectre is a Rolls-Royce first and an electrical automotive second – and all the higher for it.
(Full disclosure: Rolls-Royce flew me to Napa Valley and put me up on the 4 Seasons so I may drive the brand new Spectre. Weirdly, I solely had two glasses of champagne.)
Electrical energy completely fits a Rolls-Royce. Bear in mind, this can be a firm that builds one hell of a twin-turbo V12 however then intentionally does every thing humanly doable to mute the engine from the expertise of driving – or being pushed. Quiet, easy energy is what a Rolls-Royce is all about.
Ballot a future Spectre proprietor they usually most likely gained’t know that their automotive is powered by a 102-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery. They possible gained’t understand {that a} pair of electrical motors offers the big coupe all-wheel drive, nor will they have the ability to rattle off the headline specs: 577 hp, 664 lb-ft of torque, 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds.
As an alternative, they’ll inform you this automotive simply goes, and that it appears like their different Rolls-Royces – a attribute that’s completely intentional. Slightly than speedy torque supply that smacks you within the ass on takeoff, Rolls-Royce inbuilt a delay, mimicking the turbo lag of the gasoline V12. Even at pace, rolling onto the throttle isn’t met with stab-and-grab acceleration; the Spectre would a lot reasonably carry out its personal crescendo.
That music pun jogs my memory: Rolls-Royce engineered a symphony of futuristic faux electrical noises to accompany the powertrain’s acceleration, however they simply find yourself feeling kitschy. With a automotive this targeted on quiet, keep-the-world-and-its-poor-people-out isolation above all, why pipe in some additional spaceship sounds? Even Rolls-Royce’s executives candidly admit they like to drive the Spectre with the woo-wee sounds off. As a result of they’ve class.
Digital anti-roll tech is a godsend for retaining this 6,372-pound porker planted whereas cornering, by no means letting any pavement undulation or uncouth steering motion upset the Spectre’s wafty trip, even on mega 23-inch wheels. Nevertheless, the steering is definitely surprisingly darty at occasions, feeling just a little extra overboosted than you would possibly count on. A minimum of the Spectre has a barely completely different steering wheel than different Rolls-Royces, with a thicker rim that feels extra satisfying to grip.
Planning to be chauffeured in your Spectre? Then disregard that final paragraph. As an alternative, you’ll be completely satisfied to know that Rolls-Royce determined towards utilizing any digital brake regen within the coupe’s customary driving mode so the Spectre can nonetheless ship the smooth-and-steady stopping traits that’ll maintain you from spilling any champagne. (For actual, Rolls-Royce truly calls this the “champagne cease” and teaches it to chauffeurs.) You’ll additionally love the additional 375 kilos of sound deadening Rolls-Royce shoved into the Spectre, in addition to the 0.26 drag coefficient, making wind noise rattling close to nonexistent.
The Spectre isn’t completely with out regen, nevertheless. Use the dainty column-mounted gear selector – which is plastic for some dumb cause – and you’ll put the Spectre in “B” mode, which provides it as near one-pedal driving as Rolls-Royce permits. Lifting off the throttle gained’t make the coupe’s nostril dive like in quite a lot of EVs with sturdy power recuperation – champagne cease, bear in mind – and you’ll’t regen your means to a whole halt. However this additionally means the transition between digital and mechanical braking is significantly {smooth}.
I genuinely can not complain about the best way the Spectre drives. Is it thrilling? Not even just a little. However does it really feel like a correct Rolls-Royce? Heavens, sure. It’s bliss. Actually.
My precise gripes in regards to the Spectre are fairly pedantic within the grand scheme of issues. Nonetheless, I hate that the beltline is so excessive as a result of it makes it tougher for shorter-torsoed individuals like me to get an excellent view of the highway forward. The massaging seats are additionally sort of sluggish and weak, which I wouldn’t usually take to process, however come on, this can be a Rolls-freaking-Royce. Additionally, all the heart console and central sprint design are ripped from the corporate’s present vehicles, and whereas every thing feels nice, I used to be actually hoping for one thing more energizing. Love these weighty metallic air vent plungers, although.
Let me be clear: As an entire, the Spectre’s inside is improbable. You gained’t discover this degree of high quality match and end in some other automotive on sale at present, and I like the endlessly customizable coloration and trim choices. Rolls’ starlight headliner is right here, accurately, and this opulent illumination tech is newly obtainable on the Spectre’s large rear-hinged coach doorways.
The cabin tech is rather a lot higher now, too, with a completely digital instrument panel and an up to date infotainment system that depends on BMW’s iDrive software program. The navigation system has augmented actuality overlays, that are useful for locating the subsequent cease in your Napa wine tour, and you’ll sync every thing about your Spectre with Rolls-Royce’s proprietor app, Whispers, which, coincidentally, can be the title of a resort bar I used to frequent in San Francisco. In all probability not the identical clientele, however who is aware of.
All advised, Rolls-Royce’s first electrical automotive is a banger, and a complete looker, as nicely. (Get it in pink!) For almost all of consumers, who already personal a number of Rolls-Royces, the Spectre will really feel proper at house. Plush, quiet, spacious and confidently powered, the Spectre is precisely what you’d count on of a Rolls-Royce, electrical or in any other case.
