The Rolls-Royce Spectre Will Debut October 18th

The livestream video below is pompously titled “A Prophecy Fulfilled” as if Rolls-Royce is rolling out this car because it wants to rather than because it is forced by increasingly stringent emission regulations. The description boasts the #SpiritElectrified hashtag, most likely referring to the Spirit of Ecstasy going completely electric for the first time in the company’s long history.

As a brief refresher, Henry Royce finished his first car – the two-cylinder Royce 10 – in 1904. Henry Royce was introduced to Charles Rolls at a Manchester-based hotel in May of that year, and the first Rolls-Royce was unveiled in December 1904 with 12 horsepower on tap.

An educated guess would be for the all-new Spectre to exceed that rating, as well as the horsepower rating of every other Rolls-Royce entitled to wear a license plate. A twin-motor setup would be minimal for an ultra-luxury coupe whose closest equivalent is the all-electric 7 Series that BMW calls i7. The most potent version to date is the xDrive60, which develops 536 horsepower and 549 pound-foot (745 Nm) from two motors.

The i7 promises up to 625 kilometers (388 miles) of driving range under the WLTP thanks to a 107.8 kWh battery with a usable capacity of 101.7 kWh. Turning our attention back to the all-new Spectre, Rolls-Royce intends to begin deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2024, most likely as a 2024 model.

In keeping with mainstream automakers that include Ford of Europe, the ultra-luxury brand from Goodwood intends to go completely electric in 2030. Given that BMW hasn’t developed an all-new V12 since the N74 rolled out in 2008, and it won’t develop another one either, switching to all-electric propulsion seems to be the best course of action for Rolls-Royce.