Rolls-Royce Spectre review: Quite literally the Rolls-Royce of electric cars

The Spectre is a car that needs very little explanation: it’s a Rolls-Royce that also happens to be electric. Although lacking the usual V12 engine, it provides the same quiet, smooth and effortless drive the brand is famous for. The sumptuous interior is very much like its petrol-powered siblings, from the starlight roof lining to thick carpets and umbrellas concealed in the doors, it’s a masterclass in contemporary luxury.

It’s also a very large car that can be intimidating at first, but quickly makes driving feel effortless, so long as narrow roads are avoided. The stereo is world-class, the BMW-sourced infotainment works very well and the sense of insulation from the outside world is absolute. Quicker charging and slightly more range would be welcome, given the vast battery, and cabin space isn’t as generous as the vast exterior suggests.

I spent a day driving the Rolls-Royce Spectre, starting at the company’s showroom in Sunningdale and heading through Berkshire. The route included town driving and traffic, as well as country lanes, flowing A-roads and motorways.

open image in gallery

Independent rating: 8/10

The Spectre makes the kind of statement you’d expect from the first electric Rolls-Royce of the modern era. It is vast and unashamedly opulent, with the brand’s iconic pantheon grille, Spirit of Ecstacy bonnet mascot and rearwards-opening doors. Its battery is equally large, at 107 kWh, while its range is a claimed 329 miles (expect closer to 250 real-world) and it’ll charge at a maximum rate of 195 kW.

All impressive enough, but Rolls is confident its drivers won’t be charging at motorway service stations all that frequently; they’ll instead fill at home, then again at the hotel, the country club, or indeed the other home at the end of their journey.

The Spectre sends 570 bhp to all four wheels and sprints to 62 mph in 4.5 seconds – not bad, given its hulking 2,890 kg frame, but this of ever there were a car to glide, silently and effortlessly with plenty of power in reserve, this is it.

Anyone who has seen the interior of a recent Rolls-Royce will be immediately familiar with the Spectre’s cabin. There’s precious little here to differentiate itself from the rest of the RR family, save for the all-digital driver display. There are acres of buttery leather, of course, lambswool carpets so deep you’ll lose your phone in them and seats as comfortable as your favourite armchair.

The rear seats are bigger than you might expect, with room back there for two adults who gracefully step abroad thanks to the powered, backwards-opened doors – which, at 1.5 metres long, are absolutely massive. At over 5.4 metres long and 2.1 metres wide, the Spectre is a very large car but driving it is easy providing you don’t take a wrong turn down one of London’s width-restricted streets. It simply won’t fit. The boot has a capacity of 380 litres, which is the same as a Volkswagen Golf, and despite the enormous bonnet there’s no space under there for your charge cables.

Typical RR flourishes include the ‘starlight’ headlining, complete with virtual shooting stars, and optional star-like LEDs can be sewn into the doors, too.

open image in gallery

As with all other members of the Rolls-Royce stable, the Spectre’s infotainment system comes from owner BMW. Just like the German company’s iDrive system, the Spectre’s is conveniently controlled with a rotary dial and shortcut buttons on the centre console, as well as via the dashboard touchscreen.

Unlike BMW’s latest interior setup, the Spectre retains physical climate controls for cabin temperature and fan speed, complete with Rolls-Royce’s organ-stop controls, which can be pulled out to increase airflow. Unlike almost every other luxury car company, Rolls-Royce has shunned an audio partner and instead created its own sound system, which it calls Bespoke Audio. The 18-speaker system is among the best we’ve ever used, turning the cabin into your own personal studio on wheels. There’s also compatibility with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Lastly, the Whispers smartphone app can be used to communicate with the car remotely (to check its battery level, for example) and, this being Rolls-Royce, it also connects you with a 24/7 concierge.

If you have to ask…

Rolls-Royce rarely likes to say how much its cars cost, since they are “commissioned”, not bought, and each is often built to a unique specification created by the customer at great expense. Saying the Spectre costs from £330,000 does little to explain quite how much one can spend on a new Rolls-Royce.

The good news is that your running costs won’t be quite so large. Owners can expect a real-world range of around 250 miles, and when charged at home those miles will cost significantly less than in a petrol-powered Rolls-Royce. High-speed chargers at motorway services are much more expensive, but the average Spectre driver is unlikely to mind too much.

open image in gallery

Thanks to a respectable maximum charge rate of 195 kW, the Spectre’s huge 107 kWh battery pack can be filled from 10 to 80 percent in as little as 34 minutes. That’s if you plug it into an equally fast charger, of course. Use a wallbox at home and you’re looking at between 5.5 and 16 hours for a full fill, depending on the power of your charger.

The Spectre starts at just over £330,000, but buying (sorry, commissioning) a Rolls-Royce for the list price it’s practically unheard of. What’s far more common are the stories of buyers spending another five or six figures on customisation. For them, yes, the near-limitless personalisation options are evidently worth it.

All Rolls-Royces come with a four-year, unlimited mileage warranty, plus the Spectre’s battery has its own 10-year warranty too. If it fails within that time, and it has been serviced correctly throughout its life, Rolls should be able to help.

Quite literally the Rolls-Royce of electric cars, the Spectre takes what we already loved about the brand and injects just the right amount of modernity to make a fantastic luxury cruiser.