Page 58 - The Book For Men Fall/Winter 2023

AFTER DRIVING THE NEW ROLLS-ROYCE SPECTRE, TWO THINGS ARE interestingly, how the customer has changed.
clear. Firstly, the fabled brand is eager to prove that an electric vehicle can be every inch the luxury car that Charles Rolls and Henry Royce set out to create at the beginning of the twentieth century. And second- ly — and perhaps more tellingly — this car is legitimately, faithfully, irrefutably still a Rolls-Royce.
Of course, we never questioned that an electric drivetrain from the British carmaker would be anything other than the ultimate techno- logical achievement. After all, this is a brand whose engines have been revered for their turbine-like smoothness and near-silent operation for generations. But, through innovation, the team at Rolls-Royce has made doubly sure of its success with the Spectre and delivered a car
unlike anything we’ve ever driven.
A little over a decade ago, the brand’s future-facing 102EX concept showed
the world what an electric Rolls-Royce might look like. And, whilst we at SHARP thought it was a genius move at the time, customers were less convinced. To them, the big, smooth, powerful V12 engines they’d usually find under the bonnets of these cars were inextricably linked to Rolls-Royce’s identity. Without them, how would it work? How could an electric Rolls-Royce be a Rolls-Royce first — and an EV second? Thankfully the Spectre, a spiritual successor to the Phantom Coupé, shows us just how significantly times have changed and, more
That’s not to say that existing Rolls-Royce customers won’t feel at home in the Spectre, though. They most assuredly will. In fact, they may not even notice it’s powered by electrons rather than hydrocarbons because the experience of driving the Spectre is still thoroughly “Rolls-Royce.” The veneers remain veneers, supple hides continue to upholster seats and surfaces, and the vanes of the vents are still made from steel. And each of these elements is crafted to perfection.
Most importantly, however, the driving experience has been carefully tuned by the brand; engineered to emulate the acceleration curve of its beloved V12 models. It’s rather brisk, should you want it to be, but nowhere near as stom- ach-churning or lurching as many other electric offerings. This isn’t a toy or a juvenile experiment with electric drivetrains. It’s a luxury conveyance, one care- fully calibrated to effortlessly spirit drivers and passengers to their destinations.
Sure, you can one-pedal drive the Spectre and use the motors to slow the vehicle while simultaneously returning charge to its battery, but you can also elect to turn this feature off and only use the brake pedal (which also regenerates energy). And yes, there may be a synthesised propulsion sound — a ghostly, ethereal whisper so subtle you might not even notice it at first — but this can also be turned off if you wish. Without it, there is no sound whatsoever, and that would be our preference.
The exterior and interior colour choices are as limitless as ever, but per-
58 BFM / FW23 AUTO / GHOST IN THE MACHINE