In 2021, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars made a game-changing announcement. They revealed their dedication to electric technology by introducing Spectre, an all-electric car set for its first customer deliveries in late 2023. Moreover, Rolls-Royce committed to having their entire lineup go fully electric by the end of 2030, marking a historic shift in the brand’s direction.
Now, the much anticipated Rolls-Royce Spectre has made its grand entrance into the Malaysian market. Mr. Muller-Otvos, the CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said they chose the name ‘Spectre’ from the start because it aligns with Rolls-Royce’s legacy of innovation, perfection, and a touch of mystery. The car they’re presenting embodies these qualities, making ‘Spectre’ a fitting name.
In 2003, Rolls-Royce introduced the Phantom, marking the beginning of the Goodwood era and representing Rolls-Royce 1.0 with its unique architecture. Its successor saw the creation of the ‘Architecture of Luxury,’ an all-aluminium spaceframe used for Cullinan and Ghost, signifying Rolls-Royce 2.0. Now, with the Spectre’s fully-electric powertrain and Decentralized Intelligence, we’re entering the era of Rolls-Royce 3.0, marking a new chapter in super-luxury motoring.
The designers found inspiration in various areas like fashion, art, and yacht design, focusing on yacht concepts for their clean lines and smart use of reflections.
At the front, there’s a unique split headlight design and the widest-ever Rolls-Royce grille. The grille has smoother vanes for better aerodynamics and a polished stainless steel finish that enhances the car’s appearance through reflections.
The Rolls-Royce Spectre is the British automaker’s first-ever electric vehicle to be produced in large numbers, and the Goodwood-based company has encountered longer-than-expected order backlogs.
The assumption is that after the car’s supply is depleted, the value of the used car market will soar. Goodwood, on the other hand, is supposedly not going to do any of that and will permanently blacklist anyone who sells their Rolls-Royce Spectre EV for profit.
“They’re going immediately on a blacklist and this is it—you will never ever have the chance to acquire again,” Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös said.
Rolls is not the only company to voice its displeasure with resellers. Back in 2017, Porsche GT CEO Andreas Preuninger stated that Porsche was keeping track of which customers were reselling cars in order to restrict such customers from receiving special car allocations.
More recently, GM declared that if the Corvette Z06 is re-sold within a year, some warranties will be revoked, punishing any consumers who do so. Additionally, consumers who sell their Z06s will not be eligible for allocations on any future GM vehicles.
This is in fact not a new practise as Ferrari has been blacklisting re-sellers for years. Allocations for some of Ferrari’s rare hypercars such as the LaFerrari are only allocated for those who have been loyal to Ferrari and have been buying Ferraris for years. In fact, some Ferraris such as the LaFerrari are based on an invitation only purchase model.
The Spectre is expected to begin deliveries next year. According to reports, the electric coupe has received so many orders that the company’s CEO is already discussing raising production levels. The base model of the first-ever electric Rolls-Royce has a starting price of around $400,000 (RM1.8 million). However, analysts predict that few customers will choose the base model, therefore the majority of Spectres leaving the factory will likely cost more than $500,000 (RM2.3 million).
Thanks to a 700 kg high-voltage battery pack, the British luxury two-door boasts a WLTP driving range of 520km per charge. The 2857kg coupe is propelled by two independently stimulated synchronous motors that provide a combined 584hp and can accelerate the car from 0 to 100km/h in 4.4 seconds.
In 1900, Rolls-Royce co-founder, Charles Rolls, experienced an electrically-powered car. Even back then, there were cars that were running on electricity but the technology then made them impractical and inconvenient. Nevertheless, Rolls understood the potential of such cars as clean, noiseless transport and foresaw a time when they would be popular again – with the appropriate supporting infrastructure (ie charging stations).
Today, more than 120 years later, that time has come and Rolls-Royce fulfils the prophecy of its founding father with the presentation of the Spectre. This totally new model not only marks a very historic moment for Rolls-Royce but is also a historic moment for electrification: the technology has now reached a standard where it is able to provide the Rolls-Royce experience.
“The advent of our first battery-electric motor car marks the start of a bold new era for Rolls-Royce. It is also the culmination of a long, painstaking process, in which every element in creating this landmark car has been considered in the minutest detail, over numerous iterations. It states the direction for the future of our marque and perfectly answers a call from the most discerning individuals in the world to elevate the electric motor car experience, because Spectre is a Rolls-Royce first and an electric car second,” said Torsten Muller-Otvos, CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, as he unveiled the car today.
5,586 cars in a whole year might not sound like a particularly big number but for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, it’s a number that has never been recorded in the company’s 117-year history. While being at the topmost segment of the market does mean that the number of customers is significantly smaller, it also shows that demand for Rolls-Royce cars has grown in an unprecedented way globally.
2021 was another year of the COVID-19 pandemic and businesses worldwide were impacted, the auto industry not escaping as well. Yet Rolls-Royce was able to deliver 49% more cars than in 2020, with all-time record sales in most regions, including Greater China, the Americas and Asia-Pacific, and in multiple countries worldwide.
The phenomenal year was due to have an extremely strong product portfolio, supported by the continuing record demand for Bespoke personalisation. It was also the first full year of availability of the Ghost, with the launch of the Black Badge Ghost (pictured above).
The growth was, in fact, driven principally by the Ghost, with demand surging further when the launch of Black Badge Ghost in October. This, together with the continuing demand for the Cullinan SUV and the marque’s pinnacle product, the Phantom, saw order books are full well into the third quarter of 2022. The company’s Provenance (pre-owned) programme also enjoyed exceptional sales results in 2021, achieving an all-time record.
Not surprisingly, almost all customers make use of Bespoke services which remained at record levels. During the year, Rolls-Royce revealed individual examples such as the Phantom Oribe co-created with Hermes, alongside the Phantom Tempus, and Black Badge Wraith and Black Badge Dawn Landspeed Collection cars. The company signalled its commitment to leading a new contemporary coachbuilding movement with Rolls‑Royce Coachbuild becoming a permanent fixture in its future portfolio and, with it, the unveiling of its latest coachbuilt masterpiece, the Boat Tail (shown below).
Just as Rolls-Royce eventually added an SUV to its range, it will also have a fully electric car in the market as soon as the fourth quarter of 2023. That’s just about 22 months away and as with the Cullinan, the first all-electric Rolls-Royce – the be known as the Spectre – is undergoing the most punishing testing protocol ever conceived for a model of the marque. Prototypes will clock a total of 2.5 million kilometres in all four corners of the world, simulating more than 400 years of use for a Rolls‑Royce.
One of the very few official images of the first all-electric Rolls-Royce, available from the fourth quarter of 2023.
Reflecting on the results, CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos said: “This has been a truly historic year for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. In the past 12 months, we have recorded our highest-ever annual sales, launched the latest addition to our Black Badge family, stunned the world with our coachbuilding capabilities and made huge strides into our all-electric future.”
“While preparations are made for the marque’s all-electric future, Rolls-Royce continues to meet the surge in demand for its current portfolio through a flexible manufacturing process and the dedication of the over 2,000 people who work at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex and around the world. The Rolls-Royce factory at Goodwood is currently running at near-maximum capacity, on a two-shift pattern to fulfil orders from clients around the world,” he added.
It seems that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars either cannot contain its own excitement about its new fully electric car or pressure from its customers has persuaded it to reveal more about the new model. Until now, the company has said that the car will be launched during the decade, which can mean up till 2030. However, today CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos has announced that the finished product will have its global debut as early as the fourth quarter of 2023.
Another ‘otherworldly’ model name
The car’s name has also been revealed: Spectre, which perfectly fits with the other ‘otherworldly’ model names like Ghost, Silver Spirit, Wraith and Phantom. “Spectre is a name given to otherworldly beings synonymous with great power and apparition; creatures of an alternative realm that make their presence felt through fleeting manifestation. A spectre forces the world to pause. It dominates the space it occupies. Then, as quickly as it appears, it dissipates, leaving a wake of exhilaration, energy, and intrigue,” explained Muller-Otvos.
“This name perfectly matches the extraordinary Rolls-Royce that we are announcing today – a motorcar that makes its presence felt before disappearing into a world inaccessible to all but the very few. As a quintessentially British brand, we have selected the British spelling; however, the meaning is universal,” he added.
Road-testing to commence soon
Understandably, technical details are sparse at this time and the first two pictures of the camouflaged car do not reveal much although the side view does show a sleek form. Certainly, it will be nothing like the VISION NEXT 100 (103EX) concept shown earlier. The new car will begin testing shortly, which could explain why the company is making the announcement today. “This is not a prototype. It’s the real thing, it will be tested in plain sight,” he said. “We have conceived the most demanding testing programme in Rolls-Royce’s history. We will cover 2.5 million kilometres – a simulation of more than 400 years of use for a Rolls-Royce, on average – and we will travel to all four corners of the world to push this new motorcar to the limit.”
“You will see these test cars on roads, around the world. Look out for them – they will be in plain sight. They will be tested in all conditions and over all terrains on their multi-million-mile journey – that will literally accelerate Rolls-Royce into the future,” he added. Of course, the cars are likely to be heavily camouflaged.
Building up expertise in electric cars
Besides the fact that the founders of the company – Charles Rolls and Henry Royce – were familiar and even experienced electric cars over 100 years ago, the company has also been building up its expertise in electric powertrains for some time. “At Rolls-Royce, we have been experimenting with an electric powertrain for some time. In 2011, we revealed 102EX, a fully operational all-electric Phantom. We followed this in 2016 with our fully electric 103EX, which represented our vision for the marque several decades into the future,” said Muller-Otvos.
Layout of the electric powertrain in the 102EX.
VISION NEXT 100 (103EX)
“We embark on this bold new future with a huge advantage. Electric drive is uniquely and perfectly suited to Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, more so than any other automotive brand. It is silent, refined and creates torque almost instantly, going on to generate tremendous power. This is what we at Rolls-Royce call ‘waftability’,” he added.
Exclusive spaceframe architecture
“In 2016, we debuted Phantom and, with it, the marque’s proprietary aluminium architecture: a scalable and flexible spaceframe that would underpin all forthcoming Rolls-Royce motorcars. This unique technology – developed for Rolls-Royce by Rolls-Royce and reserved for the marque’s exclusive use – was created to form the foundation of not just different internal combustion engine models, as it now does with Cullinan and Ghost, but models with completely different powertrains.”
Part of the proprietary aluminium architecture with a scalable and flexible spaceframe to be used for the Spectre.
“To this end, our forthcoming electric car benefits from the Rolls-Royce architecture and therefore the extraordinary experience of a Rolls-Royce on the road. Free of any group platform sharing strategy, we were able to integrate our plans for an electric powertrain into the architecture’s initial design and ensure that this extraordinary new product meets the extremely high expectations of our clients,” he explained.
“With this new product, we set out our credentials for the full electrification of our entire product portfolio by 2030. By then, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars will no longer be in the business of producing or selling any internal combustion engine products,” he declared.
