The development of the brand’s first mass-produced electric car is 40% complete: so far, everything is going according to plan
The most extensive test program in the history of Rolls-Royce, which underwent its first production electric car – the Specter coupe – has entered its next phase. The car has already been tested in the developers’ favorite Swedish town of Arjeplug near the Arctic Circle, and now it has moved to the French Riviera to test at the historic Miramas racetrack and its surroundings.
Here, the Specter has to drive 625,000 of the 2.5 million kilometers of the global test program, which, according to the manufacturer’s own assessment, corresponds to 400 years of operation of the average Rolls-Royce. The company shared fresh photos, but, unfortunately, they show the prototype, as before, covered in camouflage. Instead, some technical details were revealed.
Yes, Specter will be the most aerodynamically efficient Rolls-Royce car. Preliminary calculations, which considered the use of an alternative figure created specifically for electric cars ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’, showed that the drag coefficient should be 0.26, but in reality it turned out to be even lower – 0.25.
Technically, the electric car has the so-called ‘Luxury Architecture’, that is, an aluminum spatial frame, similar to the latest gasoline models of the brand – Phantom, Cullinan and Ghost. But it surpasses them by 30% in terms of stiffness, including due to integration into the battery structure. In addition, the suspension with the Flagbearer system (as in the same Ghost), which monitors the change in terrain in front of the car and changes the settings in advance, was specially redesigned for Specter.
Rolls-Royce says the Specter is currently about 40% complete. The supply, as before, is promised to be adjusted according to the initial plan – in the fourth quarter of 2023.
