Rolls-Royce Spectre in Malaysia – brand’s first EV with 584 hp, 900 Nm; fr RM2 million before taxes, options

The Rolls-Royce Spectre has now arrived in Malaysia, just under a year after the all-electric coupé made its global debut in October 2022. The Spectre is the first fully electric production model to emerge from the British luxury brand, built on the Architecture of Luxury that also underpins the Cullinan and the eighth-generation Phantom.

While its platform is shared with current combustion-engined models, the Architecture of Luxury that underpins the Spectre has been conceived from the beginning to be able to accommodate both combustion and fully electric powertrains.

Rolls-Royce has in fact made the Spectre chassis 30% stiffer than any Rolls-Royce model that has come before, through the integration of its battery as well as the use of extruded aluminium sections. The battery is placed between the vehicle floor and a channel that houses wiring and climate control plumbing, and this also serves as 700 kg of sound dampening, according to Rolls-Royce.

In terms of exterior dimensions, the Spectre measures 5,475 mm long, 2,017 mm wide (excluding mirrors) and 1,573 mm tall with a wheelbase of 3,210 mm, which slots the marque’s first production EV in between the Cullinan and the Phantom in size terms. Rolling stock is a set of 23-inch alloy wheels, making the Spectre the first Rolls-Royce in 100 years to come with wheels of this size.

The battery in the Spectre provides up to 520 km of range on the WLTP testing standard, feeding a pair of electric drive motors – one on each axle – to provide all-wheel-drive with a combined output of 585 PS and 900 Nm of torque. This will propel the 2,890 kg electric coupé from 0-100 km/h in just 4.5 seconds.

Charging the Spectre can be done at up to 195 kW DC, which will yield a 10-80% state of charge in 34 minutes. Replenishing at 50 kW DC over the same 10-80% SoC will take 95 minutes, while a full 0-100% charge from a 22 kW AC home charger will take five hours 30 minutes.

Ride quality is central to Rolls-Royce characteristics, and so the Spectre employs a development of the planar suspension on the current-generation Ghost. A camera system reads the road surface ahead and calibrates the air springs and dampers accordingly, and the vehicle can also de-couple its anti-roll bars when being driven in a straight line to further improve ride comfort, re-engaging when entering a corner.

The fastback coupé bodystyle brings the widest Pantheon grille yet fitted to a production Rolls-Royce, and the unit on the Spectre brings with it individual active shutter panes for drag-reducing purposes. As on the Ghost, the grill on the Spectre gets 22 individual LEDs.

Bookending the grille is a dual-tier lighting setup that places daytime running lights atop, with the main headlamps on the rung below. The iconic Spirit of Ecstasy figurine has been redesigned through 830 hours of aero work, yielding a drag coefficient of 0.25, the lowest of any Rolls-Royce yet.

In Malaysia, pricing of the Rolls-Royce Spectre starts from RM2.0 million before options. According to Rolls-Royce, the order bank for the Spectre stretches into 2024.

GALLERY: Rolls-Royce Spectre

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