How long should a Rolls-Royce last? The answer is easy – forever. That’s why when the company is launching their first ever production electric car, the road testing that it needs to go through has to be the most demanding in the brands history. Something to equal those early, pioneering days at the beginning of its history. And as covering the distance between London and Edinburgh in top gear simply doesn’t impress anybody nowadays… in order to make sure that their new creation is absolutely perfect, Rolls-Royce will launch a test simulation equal to 400 years of use.

In keeping with the naming tradition, the car in question is called “Spectre”. It uses the company’s unique, modular, aluminum architecture which is already present in the Phantom and Cullinan models, and which has the capacity to accommodate different power trains - not only those that use fossil fuels. For now the final shape and look of the car is a bit of a mystery, but we should keep an eye out for test mules, which look a lot like a disguised Wraith. These cars will travel to every corner of the earth in the search for electric-motoring perfection, the only standard Rolls-Royce customers will accept. 

In many ways switching to an electric powertrain makes sense for the marque (RR will cease to produce petrol powered cars by 2030), as they are “perfectly noiseless and clean. There is no smell or vibration, and they should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged” – as Charles Rolls has once remarqued. 

First customers will be able to take delivery of their new “electron-powered” vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2023.