Autocar November 24, 2021

IT’S A DECADE since Rolls-Royce made its 102EX electric car as a live lab trial for customers to sample, and see if the technology was for them. Back then, it wasn’t, yet a huge leap in technology and a shift in customer demands have at last led to Rolls’ first production EV, the 2023 Spectre (p6). Rolls-Royce itself has changed plenty in the intervening years, too. In that time, boss Torsten Müller-Ötvös has made it one of the industry’s most successful brands and companies. The ever-increasing volumes and profits with no drop-off in desirability or exclusivity is one thing, but such has been the success of the Rolls-Royce business that it is now a fully self-sufficient and funded operation within the BMW Group. For such a small car company, that’s remarkable. All the…

IT’S A DECADE since Rolls-Royce made its 102EX electric car as a live lab trial for customers to sample, and see if the technology was for them. Back then, it wasn’t, yet a huge leap in technology and a shift in customer demands have at last led to Rolls’ first production EV, the 2023 Spectre (p6). Rolls-Royce itself has changed plenty in the intervening years, too. In that time, boss Torsten Müller-Ötvös has made it one of the industry’s most successful brands and companies. The ever-increasing volumes and profits with no drop-off in desirability or exclusivity is one thing, but such has been the success of the Rolls-Royce business that it is now a fully self-sufficient and funded operation within the BMW Group. For such a small car company, that’s…

Rolls-Royce will soon begin on-road testing of its first all-electric production car, the Spectre, ahead of a market launch in the fourth quarter of 2023. By then, prototypes will have covered 150 million miles in a range of conditions, which Rolls-Royce equates to a simulated 400 years of use. The Goodwood firm’s CEO, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, is adamant that the prototype previewed earlier this summer is a faithful representation of the production car. This means the Spectre will be a swept-back two-door grand tourer with a characteristically long bonnet and muscular proportions – characteristics that line it up as a viable replacement for the Wraith, which first went on sale in 2013. Rolls-Royce has yet to confirm plans to end production of the Wraith, but it withdrew both the hard-top version and its…

When Rolls-Royce built the 102EX in 2011, it seemed a very curious project. No buyer had asked for such a car and no production model was planned. Now the project is very real. An electric Rolls will be on sale by mid-decade, and it’s certain to demonstrate the extent of EV progress since 2011. It’s likely to have a twin-motor, 4WD set-up, rather than the 102EX’s rear drive. Its lithium ion battery might not weigh much more than the prototype’s 640kg one, but technology advances will boost its capacity well beyond 71kWh, perhaps into the 120kWh region. This and other measures can be expected to double the cruising range from an unexceptional 124 miles, although Rolls-Royce will doubtless insist its first EV is for short-haul use. But there will be one major similarity…

Rolls-Royce will soon begin on-road testing of its first all-electric production car, the Spectre, ahead of a market launch in the fourth quarter of 2023. By then, prototypes will have covered 150 million miles in a range of conditions, which Rolls-Royce equates to a simulated 400 years of use. The Goodwood firm’s CEO, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, is adamant that the prototype previewed earlier this summer is a faithful representation of the production car. This means the Spectre will be a swept-back two-door grand tourer with a characteristically long bonnet and muscular proportions – characteristics that line it up as a viable replacement for the Wraith, which first went on sale in 2013. Rolls-Royce has yet to confirm plans to end production of the Wraith, but it withdrew both the hard-top version…

LA MOTOR SHOW The new Seven concept is an outlandish and futuristic preview of Hyundai’s third bespoke electric car, which will go on sale in 2024 as a large, long-range rival to Volvo’s upcoming XC90 replacement. The Korean manufacturer labels it a “category-bending” electric SUV, highlighting its aerodynamically optimised styling and long wheelbase as departures from the design conventions of combustion-engined contemporaries. Some of its more radical design cues will be toned down for production as the Ioniq 7, but the recently launched Ioniq 5 remained largely faithful to 2019’s straight-edged 45 concept and the Ioniq 6 looks to be heading to production with minimal alterations from the preceding Prophecy concept. Autocar reported last year that Hyundai planned for its first three bespoke EVs to have highly individualised styling, and indeed the Seven concept…