Our managing editor becomes one of a handful of people outside of company staff to drive a Rolls-Royce Spectre prototype. He shares his thoughts about the experience with us here.

The electric revolution is here. Whether you are a fan of EVs, or not, their presence is being made more prevalent by the day. Just about every automaker has thrown their hat into the ring. Rolls-Royce is the latest to join the fold. 

Although, one has to wonder why it has taken this long. One of the company’s founders, Charles Rolls, made a comment in 1900 that suggested electrification would be ideal for premium products: “The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean. There is no smell or vibration. They should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged.” 

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Newcomer

The Roll-Royce Spectre is the very first, series production battery powered model on offer from the British luxury firm. Its addition to the line-up was confirmed a while ago. Late last year a ‘finished’ design was unveiled to the world. Company CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös describes the Spectre as an ‘ultra-luxury electric super coupé’.

The overall appearance was lauded, if public opinion is anything to go by. More importantly, buyers are lining up. “The order intake for the Spectre is far better at this moment than we would have expected,” the CEO was quoted as saying. “We have a couple of months to go, but if that trend continues then I’m pretty sure we need to adjust our plans.”

Stringent

I guess that Rolls-Royce was not going to be an early adopter of this tech as it requires a certain level of robustness and demands, let’s call it, perfection of its products. With that in mind the company set out a stringent testing schedule, the most arduous of any RR ever made. When complete, test and development units will accumulate 2,5 million kilometres from the Arctic Circle to the searing Northern Cape by way of the cool French Riviera, and many places in between. 

The Spectre’s architecture is all-new from the ground up. However, Rolls-Royce co-developed the battery and motors with parent company BMW AG. With RR committing to full electrification from 2030, lessons learned from the Spectre’s development will, no doubt, be applied to future models.

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Dr. Mihiar Ayoubi explains: “The reason for our extraordinary and restless global testing process is simple: there has never been a motor car like Spectre before. As the first all-electric Rolls-Royce, Spectre represents not just a new paradigm in our technology, but the entire future direction of our brand. Only Rolls-Royce engineers could conceive this astonishing journey, and only Rolls-Royce engineers could undertake it: the task is not to test a motor car but to elevate the benchmark of automotive excellence.”

Hot Stuff

The testing regime brought RR’s engineering team to the Southern tip of Africa in the midst of summer. Spectre project leader (the excellently named) Dr. Joerg Wunder and his crew were here to subject the super-coupe to hot weather testing in the Augrabies area before heading for the Mother City and surrounds.

It is at the opulent Leeu Estates in Franschhoek that I meet senior RR staff, including Dr Wunder and director of engineering Dr Mihiar Ayoubi, the latter for a short while before he jetted out. After a brief presentation we are ushered outside to feast our eyes on the main course.

No Shrinking Violet

The verdant lawns and manicured vineyards of the mountainside estate were the perfect backdrop to clap eyes on the chartreuse-coloured Rolls-Royce Spectre prototype for the first time. The flat grey light of an uncharacteristically cloudy day taking nothing away from the metallic-flake paint or massive, 23 inch alloys. 

The design team used as few strokes as possible to achieve the overall shape of the Spectre, and it shows. There are no fussy surfaces or details on the fastback. Keeping the design simple also helped achieve a very slippery shape. In fact, at 0,25 this is the most aerodynamic RR ever made. The famous Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament was even shortened and reshaped to be more streamlined.

While the overall shape is appealing, in photos and in person, images don’t do any justice to the sheer size of the Spectre. At almost 5,5 metres long and over two metres wide, this is no shrinking violet. It’s nearly as tall as I am, as you can see in the profile image in the scroller above.

Settling In

Pleasantries and brief intro to the car dealt with, we prepare to head out from Leeu Estates. I head for the captain’s chair as Dr Wunder occupies the co-pilot seat. I reach for a button to close the 1,5-metre-long door, the longest on any RR. As I glance around the console my navigator says in accented English: “Just press the brake pedal.” Doing so activates an electrical motor that silently draws the door into its frame – NICE!

My initial impression is that the cabin is snug, belying its external dimensions. As I prod the starter button the Rolls-Royce Spectre prototype doesn’t so much ‘fire-up’ instead it whirrs to life. The digital cluster and infotainment screen illuminate and we are ready to head out. 

Heading Out

I have to get used to sitting on the LHS of the cabin as I thread the massive car out of the access roads of the estate. That massive bonnet and wide shoulders are immediately evident as I pootle through the various buildings and vineyards. As I crane my neck for a better look, Dr Wunder politely suggests using the forward-facing camera to deal with the steeper sections of the driveway.

Once we pop out into the public roads of Franschhoek I realise I have to be extra careful as I am seated on the LHS of the car and driving on the LHS of the road. Dr Wunder’s furrowed brow lets me know that he is always concerned about the safety of his ‘baby’. The Spectre feels every bit a genuine RR from behind the wheel. It is butter smooth, near silent and has a heft to the way it conducts itself. People stare, most won’t realise exactly what they looked at, but they’d immediately know it was a Rolls. 

We sort of float down the main drag with hardly any noise from the car itself, or from the surrounds, permeating the cabin. In part, isolation comes from the 700 kg sound damper (read: battery) that is sandwiched into the floor. Dr Ayoubi confesses that the team had to re-engineer some noise back into the cabin as there was a stage when it was too quiet. The sensation of complete silence is, I am told, unnerving to humans.

A Road Well Travelled

Cape Town, as it can, dished up a winter-ish day for us to try out the Spectre. The temps outside hovered in the mid-teens (remember, this was mid-Jan) and there was light rainfall. Our time with the Rolls-Royce Spectre prototype was rather limited. With that in mind I am glad that we were heading up a road I know well: Franschhoek Pass. We dispatched with the lower section rather quickly and made our way up to the twistier bits.

It was here that the Spectre really impressed. It weighs a few kg short of three tons, but you’d hardly know it from the cabin. The adaptive suspension, all-wheel-drive and rear-wheel steering work seamlessly to fight the laws of physics. It’s not a sportscar, granted, but it did handle the twistier bits of this favourite piece of tar commendably.

When the road ahead was straight and clear I delved deep into the accelerator’s long travel. There’s a dignified surge forward, only evident by the rate at which the scenery flashes by. Rolls-Royce’s preliminary information quotes the peak power outputs as 430 kW/900 N.m. However, these figures may change before series production begins. A driving range in excess of 500 km was quoted. Incidentally, that’s about as far as a typical Rolls travels in a month. 

I comment that the Spectre doesn’t punch me back into the seat like some other EVs I have driven. Dr Wunder is quick to point out: “This is no headbanger. Spectre is a Rolls-Royce first and an electric car second.” Of course it is. “You will also note there are no driving modes, no ‘sport’ or ‘eco’ or ‘eco plus’. We have to get these things right and deliver the perfect driving experience to our customers.”

Summary

We return to our starting point not long after traversing the mountain for the return trip. Had it not been mentioned several times before, during and after our drive I’d not pick this for a Rolls-Royce Spectre prototype. The team’s relentless pursuit of perfection means that the testing process still has a further 20 per cent to go before deliveries can begin later this year. 

If you think about it, electrification of a brand such as Rolls-Royce makes perfect sense. These are seldom, if ever, commuter vehicles, or the owner’s only mode of transportation. Range is not really an issue, and neither is mass. Over a hundred years later Charles Rolls’ comment has proven true.