SPYSHOTS: Rolls-Royce Spectre EV seen in public

The Rolls-Royce Spectre has been sighted by our spy photographer sources as the first-ever fully electric model from Goodwood has taken to public roads.

Here, the Spectre wears the shape that has been seen in the marque’s initial release of images, albeit with a different set of wheels in place of the more stylised set as worn by the development prototype seen in September. The script of the marque’s founders’ quotes from the early prototype continue to feature here, and in this state the vehicle’s signature bonnet-mounted Spirit of Ecstasy are concealed from view.

Its front end wears shades of second-generation Ghost, while its side profile and roofline are naturally reminiscent of the Wraith. Also present here is the Rolls-Royce signature that is the coach door arrangement, otherwise known as suicide doors.

Despite its outward similarity to the marque’s current two-door model, Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös emphasised that the marque’s first fully electric model is “free of any group platform sharing strategy,” which means to say that it is not based on any prior EV from parent company BMW Group.

Instead, the Spectre is built upon Rolls-Royce’ Architecture of Luxury, which forms the basis of current models such as the Cullinan, Phantom and Ghost.

This platform has been designed from the outset to accommodate an electric powertrain, said Müller-Ötvös; though official output figures have yet to be released, the Spectre is expected to at least match the performance of of its ICE stablemates, and thus offer around 600-650 hp from a twin-motor setup, according to our sources.

In the coming months of testing, a group of Spectre test vehicles will be subjected to more than 2.5 million km of test mileage, or the simulated equivalent of 400 years of use. More sightings of the Spectre will surely follow, ahead of its market debut in 2023. Rolls-Royce has pledged for its product line to be fully electric by 2030, bypassing partial electrification.

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