Rolls Royce Spectre review. With 584bhp & 4WD, is this new Rolls Royce EV actually fun to drive?

Well welcome to a new Harry's Garage video and today's car is the Rolls-Royce Spectre, their first all-electric car, 18 foot long, lots to discuss on this car, two electric motors, front and rear, so a four-wheel drive Rolls-Royce and they've been looking at electric for a while, they've denied it but I found an interesting quote in the press release. In 1900 the Honourable Charles Rolls made a bold prediction in a magazine article, the electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean, there is no smell or vibration, they should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged. And that was four years before Rolls-Royce was formed but I find that extraordinary, in 1900 Charles Rolls was discussing no electric Rolls-Royce. Let's go and have a closer look. Now starting at the front and just looking at the design of this car, there was no way they were going to design a Rolls-Royce without the traditional grille on it, it just wouldn't be Rolls-Royce without it. But they did look at the spirit of ecstasy, they had to get the sort of CD factor of this car as low as possible, which is how you get the efficiency from electric cars, how can they do it, so it's much more rounded the grille and the spirit of ecstasy has had a lot of work and it's actually slightly smaller. I look at my Silver Shadow over there, it actually stands much taller, here it's lower and also there's a little glow that's actually backlit from above, so when you go out at night you can see that sort of glow in there. And also with the grille I can see this sort of panel behind it and that also just subtly lights up at night as well. Other things, yeah they don't like running lights, so this slit here, headlights are down here, no other lights there, you can see the radar in the middle and then just the vastness of this car, the height of it, look at it, it's so high, right up here, this bonnet actually opens, we'll have a look in a moment and just reveals, well not a lot really, but come around to the side and it's all in proportion because the wheels, they're 23-inch wheels, 255 40 by 23, Pirelli electric dedicated tyre on this car. Then Rolls-Royce here, no grilles obviously, there's no sort of air to have to vent out of this and these vast door handles which obviously open this way, huge door there, biggest apparently in production, the traditional, if I press this button, up matching umbrella to your car, both sides as well, you get that, we'll have a look at the interior in a moment, I'm going to clamber in, but that's how you close it, on the button, pillarless as well, so you go back, 295 35 R23, so yeah bigger at the back, it actually, there is a difference in horsepower between the two electric motors, so at the front, with electric motor there, 250 horsepower and then at the rear here, 490 horsepower and hence, yeah, wider tyres at the back, although the weight distribution is remarkably 50-50 and you're wondering where the battery is, well that sits along the floor, 700 kilos in total. I like Rolls-Royce's take on the battery being in the floor, they say it gives an additional secondary function, fully integrated into the motors architecture, it acts as a 700 kilo of additional acoustic insulation, which I've never seen a battery described as before. Here, charging points in there, redesigned rear lights, so no colour on them, it's interesting this, they did it because it's, everyone personalised the colour of their cars and they wanted to give us a neutral look, the rear lights, that's why it's like that. The only thing I'd say, although this is, yeah, painted, I can feel it, I would have thought that to have a lacquer over it, but that pinstripe there, I can just feel on my hand there, great big boot, swept down to the tail, a normal huge boot as you'd imagine and a little place to keep your cables in there, but mainly I would imagine this car is charging at home. If you look at the typical Rolls-Royce owner, they own an average of seven cars and they drive around 5,000 kilometres a year in their Rolls-Royce, so yeah, this has a declared range of 329 miles, I will discuss that when we go out for a drive. Right, I'm going to just show you the interior in here, amazing how far those doors open, quite a statement in here, it all will light up, but I just want to show you at the rear and whether I, that's my seating position, I can clamber in, put the seat down and here we go, and I'm looking up at the typical starburst here, they say it's actually, this roof is spec'd with shooting stars, every now and then you see one flash across, which is very neat, and I am comfortable back here, just the surprise is though, there's no adjustment on the seat, but I am very comfortable, and the other thing, I've just got in because this is very tight, I've taken people in the back of this car and they say it's quite imposing, so you don't get much of a view out the back, you'll sort of stare at this pillar and then the big seat, but comfort is terrific. Right, final bit I want to show you is under here, so I didn't realise you could actually open this, this bit of XC has disappeared down below, there you are, looks like it's a huge engine, it's not, it's just an aluminium cover, covering the electric motor and probably the charge points and that, but let's take it outside and see how this Rolls-Royce Spectre drives. They make quite a statement that they rear hinge doors, and especially so on this Rolls-Royce, because to close it I press the brake pedal and it does that, soft close obviously. Weirdly I can't make the passenger door do the same thing, on the Wraith you have a button here and you just press it and that would swing through, but we can't make it work, we've looked at all the buttons, looked at the manual, can't make it work, but it's a right pain because it's such a reach to the door, they open quite wide and if you don't know, you don't hold the door as you come in, you have to get out again to get the door, but yeah, lots of space in here, a very familiar sort of dash, it lights, it's right across the dash, these screens now, so it's saying goodbye, if I just press this one, there we are, it will all lighten up, if I just put media on there, yeah, it'll come together. I thought there might be an off button but I haven't found it yet, no that's not off, Spectre, you can't really see it in this light, and in front of me, well, a Speedo, 182 miles of range and a power reserve, so 100% ready. I love all these vents, they're just glorious, all metal and they work so well, these organ stops as we used to call them, just how you adjust the airflow through it, just fantastic. Cop holders hiding under there, familiar control for all everything we want to go to on here, so many options as you can see, you can run through and personalise it, these are personalised buttons as well, one to eight, now someone else has set these up, I haven't bothered to change them and there's no hint of what they are without pressing them as far as I can see. Ventilation, just love this split, Rolls-Royce has had this for, well, since the 70s I think, really nice, and I love how the fan speed is off, soft, medium, high or max heated seats. In there, just quite a small little glove box and wireless charging for your mobile, but not chilled in there which you sort of expect it to be, but it isn't. Can't see the starburst sort of roof at the moment, roof lining, does mean you never get a panoramic roof if you go for that options. Now, I ought to talk about the options, because I haven't actually discussed price, but price of this car, £332,000 list, price as tested according to Autocar, who had the same car as me, £444,315, so £110,000 worth of options on this car. The big one, well, the two-tone paint outside, Magnolite and gunmetal grey, £24,000. Well, this one has the launch package in it, which includes bespoke interior, coloured stitching, illuminated tread plates, lambswool rugs, Rolls-Royce headrest monograms, £16,000 for that little lot. Uplit Spirit of Ecstasy is £3,800 as a separate option. Shooting Star headliner, £15,000. This door panel with wood in here, that's another £10,320. God, they can charge. Yeah, those umbrellas, if you just want the umbrellas colour-coded, £1,350 for those. Yeah, options are quite something. But if I press start, and the other thing I love about it is the controller to drive, just like on my Silver Shadow as well, and off it goes. It locks, and I'm immediately apparent that I feel as though I'm sitting low, and there's a very huge bonnet out the front, and it's high, and you're in this vault, you feel like. You don't have this view out like if you're used to Range Rover, perhaps, or Silver Shadow. It's a different view out, it's enclosed, sporting coupe sort of feel. And it's also, I need to get rid of the speed. It's decided my drive is 20 miles an hour, even though it's a private drive, and I've got to stop that, doing that, because obviously it's a 2024 car, nothing to do with Rolls-Royce, it's EU regs. Right, let's go and find some better roads. There's no options on drive modes, as you'd imagine in this. Yeah, but there is an option on the sound you have, that's Rolls-Royce sound. I have it on, it's so in the background, I could turn it off and have absolute silence, almost. But I just quite like that sense, and that just adds to the sensation of this instant grunt of this, and the no gear change, and it's just lovely how you pull out of junctions like that. It's just imposing, and view outs, because of the big mirrors and the high window line, you've just got to watch yourself, take a double take, there's definitely nothing coming. It's not so obvious, because you haven't got the depth of glass. Quiet as well, 62, 63 decibels along my noisy, bitter road. It's funny, at really low speeds, there is a sense of occasion with this car, an ease that is exemplary. I mean, it's Rolls-Royce staple, but it's how easy you can, how smooth you can make the drive, and how your braking is almost imperceptible, as is your acceleration away from the mark, and you get addicted to it. Once you've experienced it, it's not jerky, obviously it's just the single drive, but it's where electric has even enhanced the Rolls-Royce experience, which was fantastic anyway, but yeah, it's a star turn of this spectre, is when you're sitting in traffic, and then have to ease off. It's just so well judged, and actually very hard to do, just to not have the brakes grabbed. This is a 155 mile an hour car, so it's got to have, and you know, weighs a little bit. I did put it on my scales, and it went 2,940 kilos, which actually I thought was better than expected, but it's all aluminium structure, and it's got 700 kilos of battery, but against some of the cars out there, it's vaguely all right, because everything seems to be two and a half tonnes, so I expected it to actually be my first car over three tonnes, but it wasn't. A lot of things in here, very little regen going on in its normal mode. I have a B button on here, and that then introduces major regen, and it almost doesn't suit the car, so I quite like that it is optional, and it's one button, it's not in stages. If you want lots of regen, and it's basically one pedal driving, it's there if you want it on a simple button. The other thing I noticed, these stalks, leather covered, I can feel the stitching on them, I can't think of another car that has leather covered indicator stalks, but I have to show you the performance, this is my normal squirt up the hill here, and it's all very relaxed, we're doing slightly over 33 miles an hour, I'm going to hit the D limit sign now, and wallop, I can't do it very long, proper wallop, quicker than I expected, you get it with electric cars, but it really doesn't dominate the drive sensation, but then you have to do an overtake or something, and you're surprised at how quickly this goes, and it's, again, thank you Autocar for figuring this car, but they got 4.1 seconds 0-60, and 9.1 seconds to 100 miles an hour, 9.1, to dip under 10 seconds, you used to have to have a Porsche 911 Turbo, not anymore, great big thing like that, doing that sort of speed is mighty impressive, and it just makes an ease if you do have to nip past something, yeah, plenty of power and instantaneous, no turbos to wind up, no gearbox to change down, just gone. Now then, let's try it down here, no manual option, just, yeah, cruise up to the turn, there's nothing to touch, it's just drive, let's turn it into here, god, that's, no, you shouldn't do that, you shouldn't behave like that, there wasn't anything there, was it, it was alert, turned in, even though I hadn't put it in a sports setting, nothing, and then, yeah, this is my bumpy bit of road, and, yeah, can you tell, no, not really, it's, yeah, I think, looking at the spec of the car, I had to dive in, they don't tell you very much, Rolls-Royce, you have to keep searching to try and find information on this car, but it has electronic anti-roll bars, so they are decoupled when you're, you know, just going along straight line as you were there, as soon as they feel an aggressive turn on the steering or something, they instantly come to action, and they control roll remarkably well, and I suppose you've got to add that, that it is the battery right along the base of the car, electric motors down below, aluminium construction, and much to my surprise, it doesn't wallow, it just feels sharp, way sharper than it has any right to, can't do that, 2940 kilos, no, it's Rolls-Royce, no, can't be, a little test for it round here, yes, air sprung, just swallows that bump round there, it's out of that car, it is quite remarkable, excellent round there, points in there, it's got rear steer as well, that obviously helps in the dynamics department as well, but comes as a big surprise, I almost wasn't going to test it on this road, I thought I can't take Spectre down there, but having sampled it earlier, I really had to show it, because it does shine down here, right, time to go through some likes and dislikes, dislikes first, it's an odd one, because I love the design on the outside, but inside, I do find it imposing, and sort of claustrophobic in the back, and just hard to play, as soon as you get in an environment where you have to watch the extremities, you really do need the cameras to know what it is, just going out of my drive, I have two stone pillars, never thought about it, but they disappear like 20 meters before you get to them, and you have to have this memory log, it's those two stone pillars, where were they, because it is so high, and so full of blind spots everywhere, there's a little pillar box, sort of look out the back, so I find that a bit disappointing, too, although the efficiency, right, let's just go back to efficiency, if I've got it logged up, 2.1 miles per kilowatt seems to be what I'm getting from this car, it might get better, 2.3, 2.4 on a run, but it does mean the 300 plus mile range, I'm afraid, is not there, it's 250, 240, 250, which is just a bit marginal, if you spent nearly half a million pounds on a car, or 400,000 on a car, yeah, cost, I ought to mention cost, it is a mighty expensive car, and like all electric cars, seems to suffer from a little hint of depreciation, should we say, it's a bit vulgar talking Rolls Royce and depreciation, but they put, yeah, three, after three years of value, around 180,000 on it, so you're losing quarter of a million pounds in three years, the upper end of magnitude finance, and it was eye-opening, but let's go on to the likes, as my favorite Benz arrive, and yeah, you can probably guess my number one like, as I charge around here, look at it, look at it, not a squid punch, no, it's a Rolls Royce, it shouldn't behave, number one, dynamics, huge surprise, didn't expect that at all, and the steering feel, it just weights up really nicely in the bend, and you, yeah, although it excels in town, and creeping around, and that chauffeur experience, you put it on a bit of road like this, and prepare to be amazed, so I love that about it, I just love the sense that it's a Rolls Royce as well, I just, you know, there is a ease, and in this crazy world we're in, there is a sort of oasis, sort of feel, once you step into this, and you can see why they're, they're addictive things, and it has all the toys, you know, it's the climate control beautifully set up, I love the sort of touches they put on it, you know, the starburst roof, and that sort of thing, it's so good, it's so strong for the brand, no one else has that experience, I love the rear hinge doors as well, actually, I just think they work so well, you've got to be aware of that, I just wish the passenger door closed as well, but you know, once you get used to them, the way you step into the car, exemplary, so overall, my conclusion on this car, well, I think it's the first electric car that I've driven from a manufacturer that actually enhances the experience, what I expect from that brand, so for Rolls Royce, I think electric is going to offer them a wonderful future, it absolutely suits the car, it's the first car I've driven that is improved by being electric, yes, I'd like the range to be a bit better, but the experience, the Rolls Royce experience is here, is here by the skipful, just glorious car to move around in, and quite a statement, as all Rolls Royces are, so there you go, I've enjoyed this car, I hope you've enjoyed this video as well, and if you have, well, keep watching, keep subscribing, more videos coming along very soon.