Premium car manufacturer Rolls-Royce has finally started testing its first production electric car, the Specter by covering a distance of 150 million miles.
According Autocar, CEO of the Goodwood company, Torsten Müller-Ötvös said, this prototype is a representation of a production car. This means the Specter will be a two-door grand tourer with a long bonnet and distinctive muscle proportions.
This latest unit of the luxury EV sedan uses Rolls-Royce’s own Architecture of Luxury platform, which can house a pure electric drivetrain. The platform is also used the same as the assembled luxury car line consisting of the Phantom, Ghost, and Cullinan.
Rolls-Royce first previewed its approach to electrification with the 2011 Phantom-based 102EX concept. The unit was designed primarily to determine the feasibility of EV power as a replacement for large-capacity gasoline engines.
Müller-Ötvös has strongly signaled that even the Spirit of Ecstasy logo as well as the company’s trademark front grille will be retained, even if there is no petrol engine to cool off. The Specter EV will also retain the reverse-opening doors typical of Wraith units, and there’s no indication that it will climb significantly higher than its petrol-powered predecessor.
The unveiling of the 103EX concept in a much more radical style in 2016 provided a clue as to where Rolls-Royce’s EV design plans were headed. Although the Specter adopted a more conventional silhouette with more production-friendly design cues.
