Despite its huge size and 6,417-pound curb weight, the Rolls-Royce Spectre EV manages to be pretty efficient. The EPA rates the electric two-door coupe at 291 miles of range, or 266 with the optional 23-inch wheels in place of the standard 22s — around the same amounts as the BMW i7 M70 and Maybach EQS. It turns out the Spectre is even more efficient in the real world, as our friends at Edmunds discovered when they put the Rolls through an instrumented range test.
After clocking a 0-to-60-mph time of 3.9 seconds on their test track, half a second quicker than Rolls’ estimate, Edmunds conducted its EV range test with the Spectre, and it handily beat the EPA’s estimate. Says Edmunds:
Here, EVs are tested in their most efficient drive modes (as long as they don’t produce maddeningly slow acceleration), and regenerative braking is set to maximum strength. We stay within 5 mph of the speed limit while completing a loop that consists of 60% city and 40% highway driving. Cars start with a 100% state of charge and we arrive back at HQ with 10 miles of indicated range or less.
The EPA estimates a 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre with 23-inch wheels like our test car will go 266 miles on a full charge. However, we observed 281 miles. Other EVs from the BMW Group have performed similarly, though, so this wasn’t as big of a surprise. The BMW i7 xDrive60 on 21-inch wheels completed 320 miles in our test, compared to its EPA rating of 308 miles.
The Spectre is also the quietest car that Edmunds has ever tested:
At “idle,” we recorded a hushed sound level of 35.9 dB. Under full-throttle acceleration, that level went up to 57.1 dB and at a 70-mph steady state, we recorded 56.4 dB. For comparison, the last Rolls-Royce we tested — a Wraith coupe — measured 77.6 dB under full throttle and 60.0 dB at a 70-mph cruise. Granted, that car has a 12-cylinder gas engine, but considering Rolls-Royce goes to great lengths to keep this noise out of the cabin, the difference between the Wraith and the Spectre is pretty neat.
Another interesting fact is how much louder the faux powertrain “sound” makes the whole experience. Under full throttle, the Spectre’s noise level goes up to 70.8 dB with the fake noise switched on, which is a huge increase over the 57.1 dB we experienced with this option deactivated. All the more reason to keep that fake noise switched off.
I’ve been saying for years that high-end luxury cars are perfectly suited to going electric, and the Spectre proves that. It’s quicker, quieter and more comfortable than its gas-powered predecessors, and the Spectre will likely be cheaper to maintain and to fill up. It’s not like the V12-powered Rolls-Royces get very good gas mileage or have long ranges anyway, and Rolls-Royce says its owners only drive an average of 3,000 miles per year anyway — that works out to about one charge per month.