Ghost Rolls-Royce, The company’s first production tram, has been a very long time coming. Not because it has suffered many delays and failures of Elon Cybertruck existed, but due to the little known fact that both Henry Royce and Charles Rolls had a documented fascination with all things electrically powered years before they started the automobile business in 1906.
Royce’s first company, founded in 1884, created generator engines and electric crane engines. and it was patented for bayonet style bulb accessory. Rolls, after testing their first electric car, the Columbia, in April 1900, declared their electric powertrain “totally quiet and clean. There are no odors or vibrations, and they would be very useful when fixed charging stations could be arranged.”
Fast-forward 123 years and we may still not have solved the problem of enough stationary charging stations, but Rolls-Royce, after testing electric powertrains since 2011, is finally ready to launch an EV. Firstly. Importantly, of course, this is not the Rolls-Royce company from the early 20th century. That was taken over in 1971. This is BMW.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited was established as a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW AG in 1998, after BMW licensed the rights to the Rolls-Royce name and logo from the aerospace company Rolls -Royce Holdings, and acquired the rights to the Rolls-Royce name and logo. Spirit of ecstasy hood trim and grille in the shape of the trademark Rolls-Royce from Volkswagen. The BMW Group has produced Rolls-Royce-branded cars since 2003, but this Specter, a giant four-seater super-coupe, arguably the most beautiful Rolls the company has produced since it came to power.
Outstanding Design
Photo: Rolls Royce
It is also the most aerodynamic model for the brand, with an impressively low 0.25 coefficient of drag, thanks in part to its tapered tail, despite being nearly 5.5 meters long and 2 meters wide. The Specter is also heavy, weighing almost 3 tons with a rider on board. The powerful 102 kWh battery combined with two motors provide 430 kW (584 hp) and 900 Nm of torque, helping the car accelerate from 0-100 km / h in 4.4 seconds. Range stated is 329 miles on WLTP standard, with efficiency at 2.6 to 2.8 mi/kWh. Essentially, despite its extraordinary size and weight, the Specter is still fast enough, but we’ll talk more about that later.
The design itself is heavily rooted in the brand’s history. It looks like a Rolls-Royce, inside and out. Indeed, only the lack of a tailpipe reveals its EV status. CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös told me on brand-hosted media that the Specter must be “a Rolls-Royce first, then an electric car”, I have heard this Specter mantra more than several times during the event. Rolls-Royce wisely doesn’t want to frighten its loyal clientele, which the company claims has the average age of people, mostly men, in their 40s. Younger than many would expect, but These are still the people who can afford the starting price of £330,000 (tax included) or $420,000 (tax excluded). After the inevitable lure of individuals to individual customers, I doubt the company will sell any product at that starting price.
Other notable exterior design elements include the grille—the widest ever seen on a Rolls—designed to reduce drag rather than cool. That Spirit of Ecstasy mascot has also been redesigned to be a bit more aerodynamic. Much has been made out of this by Rolls-Royce, properly sensing a mouthwatering morsel that drive-in journalists will be hard pressed to ignore. The trouble with this aerodynamic push is that it makes you wonder, if this is so important, why not replace the rearview mirror with a new camera? Design director Anders Warming says it was considered, then rejected. He’s just not convinced by technology. “I have yet to see a good solution,” he said. I have to agree.
Luxury casual cabin
Photo: Rolls Royce
Inside is a sea of genuine leather and craftsmanship. The thick rugs are better and deeper than any boutique hotel you’ve ever been to. Specter boasts the brand’s “starlight” headboard inside, but now this extends down to the doors as well. It’s a subtle sparkle and certainly theater with 4,800 individual light sources. But considering the playing field that LED lighting has given auto companies, one wonders if more could be done with such a system. Rolling night sky or familiar constellations to the owner? Custom templates?
