2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre electric car revealed

Super-luxury brand Rolls-Royce has revealed its first electric car, the 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre, ahead of first customer deliveries in a year from now – including in Australia.

After a pair of concept cars over the last decade, the two-door Spectre coupe is the first production Rolls-Royce powered by batteries, and leads the luxury brand's switch to a purely-electric model line-up by 2030.

Named after a series of 20th-century Rolls-Royce prototypes – not the recent James Bond action movie – the Spectre is the indirect replacement for the Wraith coupe, and is billed as the "spiritual successor" to the Phantom Coupe of 2008-16.

Rolls-Royce says the Spectre – which weighs nearly three tonnes – has been 120 years in the making, after a remark from company co-founder Charles Rolls in 1900 "the electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean," and would "become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged."

Preliminary specifications published by Rolls-Royce show power and torque outputs of 430kW and 900Nm, 520km of estimated driving range according to European WLTP protocols, and a claimed 0-100km/h time of 4.5 seconds.

It's the second most powerful Rolls-Royce ever built, with performance in line with the company's BMW-sourced twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engines.

Measuring 5453mm long, 2080mm wide and 1559mm tall, on a 3210mm wheelbase, the Spectre is one of the longest passenger cars on the road – stretching further than two Smart cars parked end to end, with space for one (and half a metre to spare) between its wheels.

With its 700kg battery on board, it's also one of the heaviest cars on sale, at 2975kg (kerb) – more than 300kg heavier than a Cullinan SUV – but standard rear-wheel steering means the coupe's 12.7-metre turning circle is smaller than its range-mates.

The Spectre wears an evolution of Rolls-Royce's traditional styling cues, with long rear-hinged doors, a sloping roofline, long bonnet, and the widest grille ever fitted to a Rolls-Royce, made from polished stainless steel and fitted with 22 LED lights.

The Spirit of Ecstasy figure on the grille has been the subject of 830 hours of modelling and wind tunnel testing, Rolls-Royce claims, and is said to contribute to the car's overall 0.25 drag coefficient – the lowest of any Rolls-Royce to date.

Other highlights include split headlights with darkened chromium housings, a yacht-inspired side body line, broad rear wheel arches, and LED tail-lights set into the "largest single body panel" of any Rolls-Royce, which runs from the windscreen pillars to the boot, over the roof.

The Spectre rides on 23-inch alloy wheels, said to be the "first production two-door coupe to be equipped with 23-inch wheels in almost one hundred years," according to Rolls-Royce.

Inside, the Spectre is home to four seats, two digital screens up front, and the usual array of Rolls-Royce trimmings, with "near-infinite" customisation for the seat upholstery material, stitching, piping, and more.

The electric coupe debuts what Rolls-Royce calls Starlight Doors, which integrate 4796 "softly-illuminated" illuminated dots (called 'stars') – while the dashboard can also be had with an illuminated panel comprised of a Spectre badge and more than 5500 illuminated stars.

There's also a new "digital architecture" called Spirit, which "manages the motor car's functions" in conjunction with a 'Whispers' smartphone app "allowing clients to interact with their car remotely, and receive live information curated by the marque’s luxury intelligence specialists," the company says.

Under the skin, the Spectre shares its 'Architecture of Luxury' with the V12-powered Phantom, Ghost and Cullinan, which the British brand says was designed to support electric power from the beginning.

The 2024 Spectre is said to be 30 per cent stiffer than any previous Rolls-Royce, thanks to extruded aluminium components, and the integration of the battery into the car's structure.

The 'Planar' suspension system is capable of decoupling the anti-roll bars to allow the wheels to react to bumps independently and prevent "the rocking motion that occurs when one side of a vehicle hits an undulation in the road," according to the car maker.

Once a corner is detected, the anti-roll bars are reconnected, the adaptive suspension is stiffened, and the rear-wheel steering system is primed to boost agility in the turn.

Development of the 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre is set to conclude in mid 2023 – after which time final specifications can be confirmed, ahead of first deliveries to customers between October and December 2023.

Orders are open now – or in Rolls-Royce parlance, "available to commission immediately" – with the car believed to be earmarked for Australia.

Prices are said to "be positioned between Cullinan and Phantom". In Australia, the Cullinan is priced from $692,150 to $791,900, while the Phantom costs between $915,400 and $1.07 million – all before on-road costs and options.