Upcoming electric Rolls-Royce Spectre completes winter testing
New EV faced temperatures as low as -40˚C.
Rolls-Royce’s first EV – called Spectre – has completed its first testing stage ahead of its 2023 launch.
The British luxury brand announced the Spectre last year as its first production EV, with Rolls-Royce aiming to test the model for 2,500,000km (1,553,428 miles) – equivalent to 400 years of driving.
With winter testing coming to a close, it means that 25 per cent of that target has been reached. The Spectre has been tested in Arjeplog, Sweden, at a bespoke facility just 35 miles away from the Arctic Circle, at temperatures as low as -40˚C. Such conditions are some of the toughest on the planet, and enable engineers to get the basics right while being able to see how the car copes with low traction surfaces in slow motion.
Rolls-Royce refers to the Spectre as the third stage in its history, with the firm now confirming that this EV will be built on a new platform. It also says that the car will be ‘more connected and intelligent’ than any of its current models. Its underpinnings will also be exclusive to Rolls-Royce, rather than being shared with parent brand BMW.
The firm describes the Spectre as the ‘spiritual successor’ to the Phantom Coupe, and keeps that car’s key split headlights design feature, though much of the car’s look is still firmly under wraps.
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, chief executive officer of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said: “The announcement of every new Rolls-Royce motor car carries a great weight of expectation, but Spectre is unquestionably the most anticipated product in the marque’s modern history. This is because it is much more than a product.
“It is a symbol for our bright, bold electric future, and it represents a seismic shift in our powertrain technology. It is for this reason that we have created a testing programme that is as significant and historical as Spectre itself.”
Rolls-Royce has said the model will continue to be tested around the globe ahead of first customer deliveries starting in the fourth quarter of 2023.
