The electric Rolls-Royce Spectre in Chelsea, London.
Like several other car manufacturers, Rolls-Royce has reversed its plans to make all models zero-emission by 2030. A company that makes its living by building custom cars for the world's richest people has to listen to its customers.
The electric Rolls-Royce Spectre went into production in the fall of 2023. So far, it has been a success as the best-selling model in 2024, and the second best-selling in 2025. However, despite good experiences, the time is not ripe to decide when to phase out the V12 engines. Rolls-Royce has stated that it plans to produce V12 engines well into the next decade.
We build what is ordered.
The statement came recently from Chris Brownridge, CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Brownridge explained that for every customer who is unsure if the Spectre is right for them, there will be one who says “I love it.” In other words, customers are not ready for electric cars. Not yet. In addition, the automaker is facing threats of increased US tariffs and unrest in the Middle East.
With BMW in the back
With BMW as its owner, Rolls-Royce has access to top-notch technology. Their electric model is equipped with BMW's 5th generation eDrive technology, the same 102 kWh battery as in the BMW i7, and 4-wheel drive with two EESM electric motors from the BMW iX M60 – one above each axle.
BMW, for its part, has recently announced that its Munich plant will only produce electric cars from 2027. By 2030, its goal is for the share of electric cars sold to be at least 50%. It is also worth mentioning that BMW is developing fuel cell technology in collaboration with Toyota. They plan to put a hydrogen-powered car into production in 2028.
Latest model of Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge (left) and Rolls-Royce Spectre (right)
Focus on driving experience
The Cullinan and Ghost petrol cars are equipped with 6.75 litre V12 twin turbo engines developed by BMW. The transmission is based on an 8-speed ZF automatic solution with satellite-assisted shifts. This means that the shifts are adapted to the road and terrain where the car is driven. The drivetrain is programmed to exploit the torque at low revs to provide a pleasantly low and low-frequency sound image. You should therefore be able to get the feeling of driving on a flying carpet. This feeling is reinforced by an air suspension system that uses input from cameras to keep the car at a stable height over the irregularities.
The driving experience is not impaired by the Spectre's electric drivetrain. All electric drives are – as is well known – silent, powerful and torquey, which is of course also the Spectre. It is built on a shortened chassis from the Ghost model with the same type of active air suspension system. In addition, it has a function that can enhance the feeling of flying on a magic carpet. The ceiling and parts of the interior can be filled with an artificial star spectrum (hence the model name "Spectre"). Perhaps this is an attempt to highlight that Rolls-Royce is not "just another electric vehicle?"
Rolls-Royce Spectre interior.
The point is that Electric cars – even unsophisticated cars – have silent and torquey powertrains, something that has for many years been reserved for prestige brands with large engines – such as Rolls-Royce. There is a risk that customers in the luxury car market will not find Rolls-Royce, Ferrari and Aston Martin exclusive and special enough without V12 engines.
We can draw parallels with manufacturers of expensive Swiss wristwatches. They continue to produce exclusive watches with self-winding, conventional movements – not quartz – despite the fact that they are cheaper and more precise. If you buy an expensive wristwatch with a quartz-based movement, the value lies in the watch’s jewelry value – not the movement. That is, diamonds, precious metals and exclusive design.
Do exclusive electric cars need "bling" to compensate for the demise of V12 engines?
And what would that be?
Dress your car in Swarovski diamonds like this Rolls-Royce Wraith Black Badge spotted outside Harrods in London? The car belongs – according to the registration number – to Daria Radionova – a well-known blogger and fashion expert. Her car is covered in Swarovski crystals. I have no idea how much the crystals cost, but the price tag on the car was from £350.000 ++.
Swarkovski Crystals – car belonging to fashion celebrity Darioa Radionova.Rolls Royce Wraith Black Badge covered with Swarkovski Crystals
Facts about the Rolls-Royce Spectre
Length: 545 cm
Net weight without driver: 2890 kg
Battery capacity: 102 kWh
Range WLTP: 517 km
Drivetrain: Dual engine (BMW) with AWD.
585 hp (Standard)
659 hp (Black Badge)
Production: Goodwood, West Sussex in England.
Dealer in the Nordics: Rolls-Royce Copenhagen
Terje Bjørnstad. Blog administrator, hobby photographer and car enthusiast.
1 Response
For petrol and diesel cars, car manufacturers could use engine and powertrain as a competitive advantage in the battle for market share. With electric cars, where the powertrains are in many ways the same, it becomes much more difficult to differentiate between brands and justify a higher price, and the more expensive brands have a much harder task of capturing customers.
One way to differentiate could have been to design the cars to support fast charging. However, for completely inexplicable reasons, there is a lack of will among all electric car manufacturers to solve the charging time problem and make cars with fast charging. This means that even a car as expensive as the Rolls-Royce Spectre lacks fast charging, and therefore suffers from extremely long charging times - the same applies to Ferrari's first (and hopefully last) attempt to make an electric car with the Luce model.
Since there is not a single electric car model that supports fast charging (unbelievable, but true!), there is much evidence that battery-powered electric cars are a technological dead end, as they proved to be a century ago, when electric cars were outcompeted by cars with internal combustion engines.
Rolls-Royce may not dare to say it out loud, but perhaps they are finally starting to realize what a mistake it was to invest in electric cars. If so, one can hope that parent company BMW will also come to their senses and completely scrap their failed electric car venture. All of BMW's electric cars are known to suffer from extremely slow charging, but BMW does not seem to care much about it, which may be because they make cars based on what politicians want instead of what the market wants, which is not commercially sustainable in the long term.
For petrol and diesel cars, car manufacturers could use engine and powertrain as a competitive advantage in the battle for market share. With electric cars, where the powertrains are in many ways the same, it becomes much more difficult to differentiate between brands and justify a higher price, and the more expensive brands have a much harder task of capturing customers.
One way to differentiate could have been to design the cars to support fast charging. However, for completely inexplicable reasons, there is a lack of will among all electric car manufacturers to solve the charging time problem and make cars with fast charging. This means that even a car as expensive as the Rolls-Royce Spectre lacks fast charging, and therefore suffers from extremely long charging times - the same applies to Ferrari's first (and hopefully last) attempt to make an electric car with the Luce model.
Since there is not a single electric car model that supports fast charging (unbelievable, but true!), there is much evidence that battery-powered electric cars are a technological dead end, as they proved to be a century ago, when electric cars were outcompeted by cars with internal combustion engines.
Rolls-Royce may not dare to say it out loud, but perhaps they are finally starting to realize what a mistake it was to invest in electric cars. If so, one can hope that parent company BMW will also come to their senses and completely scrap their failed electric car venture. All of BMW's electric cars are known to suffer from extremely slow charging, but BMW does not seem to care much about it, which may be because they make cars based on what politicians want instead of what the market wants, which is not commercially sustainable in the long term.