When Rolls Royce first announced plans for the Spectre it appeared to go against everything that Rolls Royce stood for. For countless decades, Rolls Royce was proud to promote its twelve-cylinder powered heritage and dismissed any notion of electrification in its lineup (except for the occasional experimental concept.) But the gloves are now off, and Rolls Royce has finally unveiled its entry into the EV wars, the 2023 Rolls Royce Spectre.
The Spectre Is A Prelude To A New Era
While the 2023 Rolls Royce SPectre continues the long-running tradition of being named after various aspects of the paranormal, everything else about the Spectre is all-new and its components were built from the ground up. Rolls Royce even claims that they made an all-new segment of EV with the model, which they’ve dubbed the “ultra-luxury electric super coupe segment.” That boast aside, the Spectre is still a coupe, and Rolls claims that it is the spiritual successor to the Phantom coupe, which is evident with some of the core Phantom styling cues sprinkled onto its exterior. The front grille is the widest ever installed on a Rolls Royce model and comes with 22 LED panels. The elegant grille is complimented from above by a slightly reworked Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament. Unlike other versions of the ornament, the Spectre’s was tweaked slightly to improve aerodynamics with the Spectre as a whole being the most aerodynamic one ever made thanks to its 0.25 drag co-efficient rating.
The Spectre will also serve as an indirect successor to the Wraith in the U.S.; we see this in other regards, especially with the taillights and the sloping rear roofline. This sportiness helps the Spectre have a unique design identity and also plays a role in some of the performance that lurks underneath the skin. Rolls Royce is planning to produce a few more EV models over the next few years and plans to be an all-electric company by the end of the decade. As such, look for some of the Spectre’s design traits to trickle down to these other models in an attempt to foster a unified family identity.
Elegant Spectre Interior Surrounds Passengers In Starlight
The interior also maintains the familiarity that buyers have come to expect in current Rolls Royce models, but don’t let the familiar trappings deceive you; the Spectre’s cabin is the most technologically advanced in the brand’s whole lineup. Open the twin coach doors, and you’ll immediately be greeted with all-new starlight doors. These doors are an evolution of the existing starlight roof system and aim to surround passengers with celestial style thanks to 4,796 illuminated diodes which excludes the sheer amount already in the headliner. While this particular feature is supposed to be an option, look for it to be a very popular addition by buyers.
Move past the light show, and you’ll see newly styled front seats with the Spectre’s thrones supposedly being inspired by British tailoring. Rolls Royce is also promising that the SPectre will have just as many customization options as the rest of the lineup, and it will be interesting to see what Spectre buyers will do in their attempts to make their car a unique one-of-a-kind piece, especially in interior appointments.
An Electrified Dragon Lurks Under The Spectre’s Supernatural Skin
Rolls Royce is still fine-tuning the final performance figures for the Spectre, but the British ultra-luxury maker did confirm that it’s preliminary data shows that the Spectre is capable of currently producing 577 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque. Those figures are impressive, but they are also notably just shy of the 640 hp generated by the recently unveiled Cadillac Celestiq EV sedan and the 1,000 plus hp seen in other rivals like the Lucid Air. Despite this, the Rolls is still capable of zipping its way to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds but look for the Rolls to focus more on the luxury side of the coin instead and treat performance as a secondary item.
That includes delivering world-class comfort and ride comfort and the Architecture of Luxury platform is eager to please in this regard. The platform has been in use for a few years now, but this time is paired with an all-new Planear suspension. This novel suspension softens ride quality even further and can automatically decouple the anti-roll bars to soften the impact of imperfections even more. Look for the performance figures to be spiced up further with a Black Badge model though it’s too early at this stage of the game to know if Rolls does indeed have such a thing planned for the Spectre.
When Can I Buy One?
The first wave of dealer-bound Spectres will begin making their way to dealerships in late 2023. Rolls has not formally revealed final pricing just yet, but has confirmed that it would slot in between the Phantom and the Cullinan, which could indicate a potential price tag resting somewhere between $400,000 to $500,000, making the Spectre one of the most expensive EV offerings, on the market today.
European and international market buyers will get their Spectres first, with U.S. buyers getting theirs later in the future after Rolls Royce makes the necessary tweaks to make the Spectre legal for our shores.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.