Rolls-Royce will launch its first EV in 2023 on the road toward a full-electric lineup by 2030.
Imagine it: cruising down the road in your Rolls-Royce, ensconced in enough hand-crafted finery to keep a small village busy for a month, with nothing but the susurration of the wind passing by. That will be a reality come late 2023 when Rolls-Royce launches its first electric vehicle.
First announced last fall, the Rolls-Royce EV is set to be a large coupe called the Spectre. The name is the British way of spelling “specter,” and is in keeping with Rolls-Royce's penchant of using ghoulish names for its vehicles. As the latest spy footage reveals, the Spectre features a more aerodynamically efficient shape than your typical blocky Rolls-Royce, which makes sense given its electric powertrain. Drag is huge killer of range. It also looks like the Spectre will have split headlights, likely to help reduce the visual weight of its tall front end., with the fastback roof and side glass almost the same across the two coupes.
The Spectre will utilize a version of Rolls-Royce's own aluminum space-frame platform that debuted in the current Phantom. Given the 2023 launch date, the powertrain will most likely be parent company BMW Group's fifth-generation EV technology which supports battery sizes up to 120 kilowatt-hours, or enough for a range approaching 400 miles on a charge. The