Rolls-Royce’s first series-produced electric car, the Spectre unveiled in 2022, won’t be its last. The BMW-owned company announced that every new car it launches after 2030 will be electric-only, though it stressed that there’s still space in its range for V12-powered models.
“All future Rolls-Royces, new ones, will be only electric while maintaining what Rolls-Royce stands for,” company boss Torsten Müller-Ötvös told British magazine Car. He added that this thinking explains the Spectre’s overall design. “That’s why we also decided to go with classical Rolls-Royce proportions. It needs to look like a Rolls-Royce: monolithic, great stature, it carries proudly the pantheon grille. It drives like a Rolls-Royce, it accelerates like a Rolls-Royce, it wafts like a Rolls-Royce … it has all of the same materials — while being electric,” he said.
That doesn’t mean that Rolls-Royce’s design department is stuck in a rut. The modular platform that underpins the Spectre (pictured) will serve as the foundation for other EVs, and Müller-Ötvös told Car and he’s open to experimenting with “very different technologies” and “different shapes,” though he stopped short of providing specific details. “[Electric technology fits perfectly with the brand,” he opined.
Rolls-Royce expects the Spectre will be able to drive for up to 260 miles on a charge. That’s not much, but the company explained driving range isn’t a big concern for its customers. They mostly use their cars in urban centers and they’re able to charge at home and at work.
If you’re saving up for a V12-powered Rolls-Royce, it’s not too late.
“I still foresee a very good business for us in future for Cullinans, for Ghosts,” noted Müller-Ötvös in the same interview.