Rolls-Royce’s first electric vehicle sounds like no other

My favourite diagnostic of the caller $420,000, all-electric Rolls-Royce Spectre isn’t the cosseting thrust prime oregon the illuminated stars embedded successful the headliner of the insanely ornate interior. It isn’t the 577 horsepower oregon the 266 miles of range. It’s neither the “yes, that’s the spot” massaging seats nor the curbside beingness of that upright, chromed beforehand grille. It isn’t adjacent the aerodynamically refined yet classically styled Spirit of Ecstasy statuette perched atop.

My favourite diagnostic of the Spectre is the dependable it makes. As an EV, it doesn’t truly marque immoderate motor dependable connected its own. It’s a rolling cocoon made inherently anti-acoustic acknowledgment to the tireless enactment of immoderate surely big-eared scientists. So, to inject a small much beingness into the driving experience, the Spectre plays a small integer code erstwhile you accelerate.

Yes, astir each modern EV emits immoderate benignant of synthetic whir oregon trill erstwhile you get connected the accelerator — but thing similar the Spectre. This car makes the benignant of dependable that you would expect to perceive erstwhile an omniscient, all-powerful alien unit swoops done the clouds successful a sci-fi movie, the gut-shaking code backing the infinitesimal erstwhile everyone realizes that humanity is astir to get served. 

This heavenly chorus is truthful subtle, you astir can’t perceive it, but with this Roller being arsenic quiescent arsenic a tomb, the effect is genuinely sublime. And that’s conscionable 1 facet of a wholly refined acquisition that’s connected a level supra immoderate different EV connected the road. 

A hushed destiny

The Rolls-Royce marque has been applied to top-tier machines since 1904, and it feels similar the erstwhile 120 years person been starring up to this moment. 

If you’re fortunate capable to spot an aboriginal Rolls-Royce waft by, similar a Silver Ghost oregon a Phantom, you won’t perceive much. Despite monolithic engines successful excess of 7 liters (50 percent bigger than that of a existent Ford Mustang GT), these aboriginal ultra-luxury cars featured exhausts designed to minimize drivetrain noise.

With the Spectre, Rolls-Royce’s archetypal battery-electric EV, the company’s engineers tin yet halt overengineering ye olde interior combustion to marque it creaseless and silent. The Spectre relies connected 2 electrical motors that marque the combined 577 horsepower mentioned supra and 664 pound-feet of torque. This happening weighs a monolithic 6,371 pounds, much than a Cadillac Escalade, yet it tin accelerate to 60mph successful conscionable 4.4 seconds.

Yes, it’s accelerated erstwhile it needs to be, but you’ll spot amended scope erstwhile driven calmly, up to 266 miles connected a complaint from its 102kWh artillery pack. 

Not lone is relaxed driving much businesslike but it’s besides overmuch much rewarding. The Spectre has a mostly calm demeanor, similar a throttle pedal that requires a heavy exertion to unleash each that power. The brake pedal is arsenic laid back, arsenic is the dilatory steering, with conscionable capable feedback to fto you cognize you are turning the wheels and tires.

All 4 of them, successful fact. Rear-wheel steering makes this astir 18-foot-long ultra-coupe a cinch to navigate done choky parking lots. The 360-degree camera and modular automated parking besides assistance to guarantee that you don’t curb 1 of those 23-inch wheels, thing I appreciated during my loan, arsenic replacing immoderate of them would surely person bankrupted me.

On borrowed tech

That 360-degree camera is conscionable immoderate of the tech that Rolls-Royce engineers borrowed from genitor institution BMW, but I privation they’d stolen a spot more, similar BMW’s hands-off operator assistance system. 

The touchscreen infotainment is besides reasonably modern, offering integrated navigation and searching for charging stations. It’ll adjacent bash some Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, though, curiously, I couldn’t get the second to work. Perhaps the car considered my last-season Samsung Galaxy S23 excessively passé? And though the media is played done a 16-speaker bespoke audio strategy that is almighty yet beautifully subtle, it sadly lacks Dolby Atmos support. 

So this highest of high-tech Rolls-Royces doesn’t rather connection each the world’s features, but what you get alternatively is an astronomically elaborate interior, level mats of the softest lambswool, and a broad acceptable of polished metallic controls, each designed with the cleanable value and feel.

Mortgage time

While you tin get into a Spectre for $420,000, you’ll ne'er get done the buying process without ticking a fewer boxes. Given options similar the chartreuse overgarment you spot present costs $13,100 connected its own, expect to walk a batch more. This car stickered astatine $560,100 aft a $2,750 destination charge. 

A worthwhile expenditure? That’s a hard happening for idiosyncratic with the fund of a specified mortal to say. The Spectre is hardly a bully value, but it is exceptional, made each the much spectacular considering it’s Rolls-Royce’s. But the beingness of That Sound does marque it each look worthwhile.

There are much EVs to come, but we’ll person to beryllium patient; an SUV has been promised for 2027, up of the marque becoming all-electric successful 2030. How good those aboriginal EVs look and thrust is anyone’s conjecture astatine this point, but if they each dependable this good, they’ll beryllium disconnected to a precise bully start.