Electric Rolls-Royce Spectre for 2023 sees first images revealed

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Rolls-Royce has today revealed the first images and details of its Spectre electric luxury car that will herald a fully electrified line-up within a decade – with a name that will leave even James Bond shaken and stirred.

The new zero-emissions Spectre will be on sale by the end of 2023 and the entire Rolls-Royce range will be battery powered by 2030, said the firm – owned by BMW – with its boutique factory headquarters at Goodwood in Sussex.

Bosses stressed the new clean, greener, superfast and near-silent luxury coupe is ‘not a prototype’ and is ‘the real thing’, but revealed only a few heavily-disguised images of it.

With current new Rolls-Royce owners able to spend upwards of £260,000 on a two-door Wraith, or almost £500,000 on a top specification petrol-powered Phantom limousine  – and often closer to £1million by the time extras are added – expect prices to be high for the Spectre, with tremendous pulling power and acceleration. 

Indeed, those who are keen to take advantage of Rolls-Royce’s almost endless opportunity to customise a car could be heading for £1million with a new Spectre. 

The ‘Spectre’ name continues Rolls-Royce’s ethereal naming pattern that already currently embraces Phantom, Wraith, and Ghost.

However, it also echoes the name of fictional spy James Bond’s arch nemesis crime syndicate – against which he is battling in the new 007 movie ‘No Time to Die‘ starring Daniel Craig, which had its world premiere on Tuesday night ahead of hitting cinema screens from Thursday. 

Electric power will bolster the brand’s traditional smooth performance, which the firm calls ‘waftability’ or a ‘magic carpet ride’.

Bosses said the total switch to electric power by the end of the decade is ‘the most significant day in the history of Rolls-Royce’ since the luxury car firm was founded in 1904.  

Official pictures of the car released by Rolls-Royce show it in camouflaged form only, with the details of the vehicle blurred and well hidden by a string of quotes from its founders, the Honourable Charles Rolls and Sir Henry Royce about electrification, design and engineering excellence. 

Charles Rolls said ‘The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean’, while Henry Royce used the lines ‘Strive for perfection in everything we do,’ ‘Take the best that exists and make it better’ and ‘When it does not exist, design it’.

Despite the efforts to keep its looks under wraps, the outline of a sleek coupe-style body can still be clearly seen.

With a two-door, sweeping body design, the Spectre hints at an electrified alternative to the brand’s existing Wraith model rather than a replacement for the Ghost or Phantom limos.

Bosses confirmed it will be built on an all-new flexible platform that will underpin all its plug-in cars developed over the course of becoming an all-electric vehicle maker by the end of the decade.

Rolls-Royce said it is about to embark on a 1.5million-mile global testing programme with the new electric car – simulating the equivalent of 400 years’ of use – to ensure it passes muster for the brand’s exacting VIP customers.

Rolls-Royce is joining the electric revolution in the wake of the Government banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. 

Until today, Rolls-Royce had merely committed only to launching an electric car by the end of the decade. Now it has accelerated that programme dramatically, with every model it sells by 2030 running on batteries only.

But it insists that the switch from big gas-guzzling petrol engines to greener power is fully in-keeping with the thinking of its founders more than a century ago, both of whom were early pioneers and supporters of electric power.

Chief executive Torsten Müller-Ötvös: ‘Over the past decade, I have been repeatedly asked, when will Rolls-Royce go electric? And when will you produce your first electric car?

‘I answered with an unambiguous promise: ‘Rolls-Royce will go electric, starting this decade. Today, I’m keeping my word.’ 

Specifically, he pointed out that even the firm’s originators were ahead of their time in seeing the potential for electric power. 

Sir Henry Royce was ‘one of the first electrical engineers, who suppled motors to the earliest electric cars. Rolls-Royce said: ‘Indeed, some have speculated that, had he been able to solve the range and charging issues, Sir Henry Royce may have chosen electric power alone for his cars.’

His partner, the Hon Charles Rolls, championed and owned an early electric car and rated the imported battery-powered Columbia model ‘the best of its type’, it said. He had a battery charging station at his car showroom in Lillie Road, Fulham for early Brougham electric cars which were popular at the time, and predicted in 1900, in terms which seem prophetical now: ‘The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean. There is no smell or vibration, and they should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged. ‘

On the road to its electric future, Rolls-Royce has within the last decade produced two prototype electric cars.

Mr Müller-Ötvös said the new full production electric car meant Rolls’ original ‘prophesy’ had been fulfilled and his own ‘promise’ kept in what he described as ‘a seminal moment for the marque’.

He said: ‘Today is the most significant day in the history of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars since 4th May, 1904. On that date, our founding fathers, Charles Rolls and Sir Henry Royce, first met and agreed that they were going to create ‘the best motor car in the world.’

He noted: ‘Using the most advanced technology available to them at the time and by applying their remarkable engineering minds, these two pioneers elevated early internal combustion engine cars, from noisy, uncomfortable and rudimentary means of transportation, by setting a completely new benchmark of distinction.’

‘Today, 117 years later, I am proud to announce that Rolls-Royce is to begin the on-road testing programme for an extraordinary new product that will elevate the global all-electric car revolution and create the first – and finest – super-luxury product of its type.’

Mr Müller-Ötvös said: ‘With this new product we set out our credentials for the full electrification of our entire product portfolio by 2030. By then, Rolls-Royce will no longer be in the business of producing or selling any internal combustion engine products.’

He stressed: ‘This is not a prototype. It’s the real thing, it will be tested in plain sight and our clients will take first deliveries of the car in the fourth quarter of 2023.’

‘You will see these test cars on roads, around the world. Look out for them.’   

Rolls-Royce owner, BMW, has not yet set an end date for producing uts fossil fuel burning cars, instead setting a goal of 50 per cent electric vehicle production by 2030.

But its subsidiary Mini said in March it would go all-electric by the end of the decade.

Rolls-Royce electric cars teased before today 

Over the last decade Rolls-Royce has produced two experimental electric prototypes.

The first was the 2011 Phantom EE (codenamed 102EX) based on an existing top of the range Phantom, replacing its 6.75litre V12 petrol engine and gearbox with a lithium ion battery pack and two electric motors.

But while it won plaudits for its near silent performance and innovation – including inductive or ‘wireless’ charging which meant a chauffeur or driver could just position the limousine over a pad to be charged through the ether– it was ahead of its time. Limited range and length of charging remained ‘significant hurdles’.

The second was the more futuristic 2016 Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100 (103EX) which took part in a three year global tour to accustom the world to the idea of an electric limousine.

Mr Müller-Ötvös said: ‘The use of electric motors is not a new concept for Rolls-Royce. Sir Henry Royce was fascinated by all things electrified, and his first venture created dynamos, electric crane motors and patented the bayonet-style light bulb fitting.

‘However, it was Charles Rolls who truly prophesied an electrified future for automobiles. In April 1900 he experienced an early electric motor car named the Columbia and declared its electric drive to be ideal.’

It has taken many decades for the technology to catch up to the dream and the ‘prophesy’ he said:

‘We have not been satisfied that available technology could support the Rolls-Royce experience. Until now.

Now is the time to change the course of the future of luxury.’

Explaining what has changed, he said: ‘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’.’