Not a lot makes sense about a car that costs as much as a house. Nobody needs stars embedded in their car’s headliner, or needlessly cumbersome doors that open backwards, but a car bearing the Spirit of Ecstasy atop its grille doesn’t have to abide by the confines of logic. Still, there is one thing that makes complete sense about the 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre: it’s electric.
Silence, isolation, and effortlessness have been Rolls-Royce hallmarks pretty much since the dawn of time. They’ve spent literal decades tuning out the unpleasantries associated with internal-combustion powertrains. Hearing the engine run? Unacceptable. A slight vibration through the seat at idle? How boorish. A brief, almost unnoticeable hiccup in power delivery as the transmission downshifts? Tres gauche. But all this is why an electric Rolls-Royce makes sense. The Spectre delivers on Rolls’ hallmarks, while also solving the biggest quibble with internal-combustion powertrains in the simplest way: by getting rid of it.
The V12s humming in Rolls-Royces past and present are neat in their own right, but they’re living on borrowed time. Instead, the Spectre gets a dual electric motor setup working with a 102 kWh battery pack, producing a generous 584 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque. This behemoth weighs more than 6,500 pounds, it gets up to 428 kilometres of range, and it does zero-to-100 km/h in 4.5 seconds. That doesn’t stack up favourably against other upper-echelon EVs like the Taycan, which may be slightly less nice inside, but it’s faster, equally attention-grabbing, and Porsche offers almost as much customization as Rolls-Royce, for a lot less money. Evidently, the Spectre isn’t a numbers car.
It’s an experience car.
I’m not ashamed to admit I have a crush on the Lexus LC 500, because it’s also an experience car. You don’t buy one because it out-muscles an M4 on paper; you fall for it because the only way to fully understand what makes the LC special is to experience its theatre and character for yourself. The Spectre couldn’t be more of a polar opposite to the LC, but it’s still an experience car because the only way to fully understand what makes the Spectre special, to see how it perfects the Rolls-Royce hallmarks, is to experience it.
Let’s start with silence.
We have a weird relationship with sound and EVs. We praised early EVs for their hushed nature, but today, Teslas make farting noises and most others come with some sort of space-age soundtrack. Not so with the Spectre; it can make spaceship noises, but it’s happiest wafting along in swift silence. Heck, even with the interior fan on its fastest setting, it’s still whisper-quiet and anything below is damn near imperceptible. If you need to get some deep thinking done, just hop into a Spectre and let your mind wander.
Silence goes hand-in-hand with isolation. As soon as you shut the Spectre’s borderline cumbersome coach doors — via the switches on the centre console, or by simply pressing the brake pedal — you’re completely isolated from the outside world. In addition to Rolls-Royce’s usual tricks, including thick glass, extremely plush carpeting, and a lot of sound deadening material — the Spectre in particular uses some 400 pounds’ worth — the Spectre’s battery pack sits beneath the floor and acts like a big, sound-absorbing blanket. Wind and road noise are virtually non-existent, and despite the massive 23-inch wheels, it glides over all but the harshest of bumps, potholes, and other imperfections. We already knew Rolls-Royces were pretty darn quiet, but the Spectre takes silence and isolation to a whole new level by virtue of simply being electrified.
But what’s silence and isolation without effortlessness? Despite its sheer size — it’s about 18 feet long — the Spectre is remarkably easy to drive. Like any other EV, its instant torque is addictive, but the Spectre favours unrelenting smoothness over straight-line thrills. Its regenerative braking is commendably smooth, and by tapping the ‘B’ button on the (leather-wrapped) column shifter, it’s strong enough to haul the Spectre down to a full stop without touching the brake pedal. Steering is light, easy, and accurate; coupled with the high-res cameras all around, squeezing this Goliath through tight spots isn’t a total nail-biter. Adding to the effortlessness is a full complement of active safety and driving assists borrowed from BMW including Assist Plus, enabling you to waft along the highway hands-free, under the right conditions. It’s as smart here in the Spectre as it is in other Bimmers we’ve sampled, but Rolls-Royce should’ve called it Chauffeur. Missed opportunity there.
Inside, the Spectre ensconces you in only the most buttery of leather, the tightest of stitching, and the plushest of lambswool floor mats — seriously, I felt guilty about wearing my shoes inside the Spectre. A thoroughly reskinned version of BMW’s iDrive handles infotainment, and the all-digital instrument cluster is crisp and minimalist. Small but thoughtful details, like the metallic accents, wood veneer spanning across the dashboard, and even the sound of the turn signals add to the sumptuousness. Naturally, Rolls-Royce’s Starlight headliner will dazzle your passengers, and now, you can extend the Starlight treatment to the door panels. Even the back seats are commodious for adults, though ingress and egress is a wee bit challenging.
The Spectre starts at a not-insignificant US$420,000, and that’s before you put it through the wringer of Rolls-Royce’s extensive customization program. Our particular Spectre tester was finished in a hue Rolls-Royce calls Chartreuse, on top of a primarily black interior with splashes of Chartreuse upholstery to complement the exterior paintwork. To be frank, it’s a polarizing look, but the Spectre was certainly attention-grabbing. As it should be, considering its $700,000-plus as-tested price tag based on today’s exchange rates.
Most people don’t see the value in a car like the 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre. At first, I didn’t either. It’s worth as much as my house, and although I can live in a Spectre but can’t race a house, 700-large is an absurd price to pay. But then I experienced it: no other model in the marque’s storied portfolio, past or present, nails the Rolls-Royce hallmarks as tactfully as the Spectre. And not to mention, swapping out that crude, fossil-fuel-burning powertrain for something swift and silent is a no-brainer. An electric Rolls-Royce isn’t just the future — it simply makes sense.
