Rolls-Royce Spectre

FIRST DRIVE Iconic British luxury brand finally enters the electric era

- John Mcllroy

MORE than 120 years after Charles Rolls predicted a future for electric propulsion in cars, the time has finally arrived for the company that still bears his name to venture down that path. Rolls-Royce will go completely electric by the end of the decade - and now we've had our first opportunity to sample the vehicle that starts the ball rolling: Spectre.

Said by Rolls execs to be the spiritual successor to the Phantom Coupé, the new arrival is a large four-seat, two-door coupé. The brief from Rolls' existing clients, we're told, was for a vehicle that was a Rolls-Royce first and an electric car second. And at just shy of 5.5 metres long, and featuring the widest 'Pantheon' front grille ever fitted to a Rolls-Royce, the Spectre certainly cuts a striking shape. It's imposing, but graceful with it-in more subtle hues, at least.

Spectre is the fourth car to be based on Rolls' own Architecture of Luxury. There are two motors, with 255bhp at the front and 483bhp at the rear, delivering a combined output of 577bhp and 900Nm of torque. That's enough, Rolls says, for the Spectre to reach 60mph in 4.4 seconds.

The battery is a whopping 102kWh (usable) lithium-ion pack, whose 700kg mass plays its part in a kerbweight that nudges three tonnes. Rolls claims a range of 329 miles and says that rapid charging at up to 195kW can take the car from 10 to 80 per cent in 34 minutes.