The magic carpet goes electric

Specialising in cars so smooth you won’t spill your Champagne, Rolls-Royce was born for the all-electric market–and the Spectre is well worth the two-year wait

- Toby Keel

AT some point in the creation of the new Rolls-Royce Spectre, the company’s first-ever all-electric car, a difficult meeting must have taken place.

‘Chaps, the car’s feeling great, but there’s one thing—it’s too fast,’ someone in product testing must have told the engineering team. ‘Can you make it slower?’

‘Slower?’ the incredulous reply from the engineering team presumably came. ‘You want it to be… slower?’

‘Yes, indeed. It’s a great engineering accomplishment, but I’m afraid it made Derek spill his Champagne.’

Now, although some details of this exchange are—ahem— artistic re-creations, Rolls-Royce genuinely does use the Champagne test as its benchmark for a smooth ride: if the car surges and jerks violently enough for a passenger to spill their fizz, then it’s back to the drawing board. The everything-all-at-once nature of an electric motor’s power delivery made this a challenge, as you’re not awakening a mighty beast so much as startling a kitten by popping a balloon. That sort of thing might be fine for vehicles with cats and horses on their badges, but it won’t do for a motorcar with a flying lady on the bonnet. It simply isn’t Rolls-Royce-y enough.