Rolls-Royce Spectre review: Australia’s most expensive EV

This will be Australia’s most exclusive battery-powered car and its eye-watering price tag will make you choke on your coffee.

Electric power may be exactly what Rolls-Royce needed to elevate the exceptional.

Spectre is the prestigious British brand’s first battery electric vehicle which boasts a range of firsts – including the largest rear-hinged and electrically assisted coach doors ever fitted to a Rolls at 1.5m, the widest grille, largest wheels at 23 inches and the most aerodynamic Spirit of Ecstasy figurine adorning the bonnet.

The 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre starts from about $770,000, but the model featured with all options is $1,050,000 plus on-roads.

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Bare-bones Spectres start from $770,000. But no one buys an entry-level Rolls-Royce and there is no such thing as “standard”.

Every owner requires something bespoke. Expect the asking price to push past $1m for every Spectre which silently cruises from the showroom once tailored extras are finalised.

During development, customers were asked whether the range of more than 500km would be enough.

For the majority that capacity was well beyond expectations – anything much more than 300km they would take the private jet … or maybe the helicopter.

The 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre starts from about $770,000, but the model featured with all options is $1,050,000 plus on-roads.

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Apparently Rolls-Royce owners have an average of more than seven cars in their garage anyway.

The Spectre might become their favourite.

Once the doors close, electrically of course via a toggle on the console or by the driver placing their foot on the brake pedal, it’s a combination of silence and ultimate opulence.

Eerily quiet, the occupants are ensconced within a lavish cocoon of the highest grade leather, timber and stainless steel.

Only the harshest of road surfaces could blemish the serenity.

Even then it was a minor impediment.

Despite an aluminium architecture, the scales are tipped at nearly three tonne.

Even so, the Spectre is remarkably lithe and can reach 100km/h from standstill in 4.5 seconds.

The underfloor batteries also mean greater rigidity, with that strength enabling the Spectre to perform ride wizardry. During highway and straight road travels the anti-roll bars decouple and enable each wheel to act independently.

It’s like riding on cloud nine. Or 10.

When the going gets twisty it’s not all bad. Despite the imposing Spectre measuring nearly 5.5m in length – half a metre longer than a Toyota LandCruiser – it manages to hunker down and slice through the bends with adept precision.

But it’s not a car you want to drive fast. There are no modes or configurable dials, only a ‘B’ on the leather-lined gear selector stalk for regenerative braking.

Rolls-Royce has avoided the modern fascination for minimalism.

The 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre starts from about $770,000, but the model featured with all options is $1,050,000 plus on-roads.

Across the dash are tactile finishes of the highest quality, with shiny metal vents controlled by push-pull stops to alter air flow along with fan control dials, there is also quick access to stereo controls on a BMW-derived touchscreen.

The seats heat and cool passengers, as well as massage. Then there is also the shooting star headliner which mimics a crystal-clear evening … and yes, the full-size umbrellas are concealed above the front wheel well and available at the push of a button.

Eighteen speakers deliver a remarkable symphony, while lamb's wool floor mats are the softest your feet will ever rest upon.

The 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre starts from about $770,000, but the model featured with all options is $1,050,000 plus on-roads.

That plush carpet which makes silk feel like sandpaper can be part of a package for about $35,000 which also includes illuminated treadplates, RR monograms on the headrests and an illuminated grille. Rolls won’t reveal prices on all its options, as every one is different and “bespoke elements contained within differs reflecting the hand-built nature of a Rolls-Royce Motor Car”.

But if overseas numbers are any indication, it would be about $19,500 for the 23-inch part polished wheels, $2700 for the umbrella canopies to match the car, provide the Spirit of Ecstasy with some uplighting and that’s $7500, while the shooting star headliner is $30,000.

Tick a few boxes and it’s easy to see how our loan car had nearly $300,000 worth of additions.

The 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre starts from about $770,000, but the model featured with all options is $1,050,000 plus on-roads.

Unfortunately charging remains less glamorous.

At maximum speed it can recharge from 10 to 80 per cent in 34 minutes.

More common 50kW public charges take about 95 minutes for the same result … not that many owners would be standing around at your local station, that’s a job for the help.

Verdict

The likes of Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maserati may struggle with the shift from internal combustion engines. Electric suits everything about Rolls-Royce.

ROLLS-ROYCE SPECTRE

PRICE $770,000, as tested $1,050,000 plus on-roads

MOTORS Front and rear electric, 430kW and 900Nm combined

WARRANTY/SERVICING Four-year unlimited kilometre, free for the first four years

SAFETY 8 airbags, adaptive cruise control, lane centring, autonomous emergency braking, speed sign recognition, 360-degree parking cameras

RANGE 530km

BOOT 380L

Originally published as Rolls-Royce Spectre review: Australia’s most expensive EV