Yes, folks, it’s true. On Wednesday, Rolls-Royce announced that it’s finally bringing its luxury cars into the electric future. The very first EV from the historic brand is about to begin extensive on-road testing. “We will cover 2.5 million kilometers – a simulation of more than 400 years of use for a Rolls-Royce, on average – and we will travel to all four corners of the world to push this new motor car to the limit,” the company’s CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös said. The electric Rolls-Royce is called “Spectre” to echo the essence of an otherworldly powerful creature. It promises to be a “silent, menacing creation” that combines internal power and external smoothness. The company further revealed that the Spectre will make use of the marque’s proprietary aluminium architecture: a scalable and flexible spaceframe debuted with the Phantom in 2017. Rolls-Royce plans to launch its luxurious EV in late 2023, which will mark only the beginning of full electrification of the company’s automotive offerings by 2030. Rolls-Royce is but the latest example of an ultra-luxury automaker entering the EV space. Other brands such as Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi have already released their electric lineups. And we can say that it’s only positive that even car companies addressing a smaller market are going electric. Do EVs excite your electrons? Do ebikes get your wheels spinning? Do self-driving cars get you all charged up? Then you need the weekly SHIFT newsletter in your life. Click here to sign up.
