The Rolls-Royce Specter has now completed winter tests in northern Sweden, and thus has completed a quarter of its planned testing.
Specter. The name makes it cold on the backs of James Bond fans, but equally terrifying is not a name in the RR universe.
Rolls-Royce has a naming strategy based on paranormal creatures where souls roam the earth, something the Ghost, Phantom and Wraith models are good examples of.
The upcoming electric car will also get such a name, as specter also means ghost. So the ghost organization in 007 is a ghost organization.
But the Rolls-Royce Specter will be anything but that, as it’s the first double R electric car.
The expectations that the brand owned by the BMW group want to achieve are of course very big.
– When we announce a new Rolls-Royce car, expectations are always high, but the Specter is undoubtedly the most anticipated product in the brand’s modern history, says RR CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös.
– The reason is that it is more than just a product. It is a symbol of our bright and bold electric future, and it represents a seismic shift in our driveline technology.
Now Rolls-Royce has a big advantage over other brands that made their first electric cars, namely that they can rely on BMW – which in 2013 came with its first electric car, the BMW i3.
Unsurprisingly though, the luxury brand will be doing things its own way, calling the Specter a Rolls-Royce 3.0.
The first step in the new RR era began with the new Phantom in 2003 namely the Rolls-Royce 1.0, and this was followed by a new flexible aluminum architecture for the Phantom, Cullinan, Ghost and so-called Coachbuild projects. This is Rolls-Royce 2.0.
The 3.0 means that they’ve taken into account that traditional things like big engines, gearboxes and fuel tanks are gone, and Rolls-Royce intends to capitalize on these with more interior space.
They also don’t need to pay much attention to another enemy of big luxury cars, engine noise.
Lastly, power shouldn’t be an issue either, as electric drives are superior to even the most powerful traditional drives. For example, both Tesla and Rimac have a speeding sports car that can go from 0-100 km/h in under 2 seconds. It’s faster than a Formula 1 car.
What we can specifically expect from the Specter is too soon to say, but it’s going to be a spectacular electric car that shows one thing.
Because even if the engine noise is gone, Rolls-Royce still has to deal with other noises, such as wind and road noise. So they have used 700 kilos of material just to provide a sedentary lounge.
It can’t be tested either.
The UK had planned a test program of 2.5 million kilometers, and has now completed a quarter of it.
The last pile of kilometers was recorded near the Arctic Circle, as the Specter has now completed its winter tests.
That’s in Arjeplog in northern Sweden, where temperatures on a “good” day can drop as low as -30 degrees.
– Our job is to teach each component and system how to think, behave and communicate like a Rolls-Royce, says technical director Mihiar Ayoubi.
– Here at Arjeplog, we have laid a significant foundation on which we can build a true Rolls-Royce. This is a huge step forward for the brand, but also for electrification – although the Specter is still in its infancy, I can confirm that the technology will deliver a true Rolls-Royce experience.
This is a huge advantage with slippery winter tests that many people may not even think about. Due to the extremely slippery and unpredictable surface, Rolls-Royce even at low speeds can check how the car normally behaves at high speeds.
Plus, they can check all the technology and electrical systems in very cold weather, and that’s important.
For the Specter, this will be Rolls-Royce’s most connected car, despite the fact that every component is smarter than the previous.
Specter has as many as 141,200 transmitter-receiver links, and more than 1,000 functions with more than 25,000 sub-functions.
In comparison, the Phantom has 51,000 transmitter-receiver links, 456 functions and 647 sub-functions.
In other words; Specter will be the smartest in the RR family.
Since Rolls-Royce has now completed winter tests, everything is clearly working as it should.
Hopefully this means that the Specter should also do well in the Norwegian winters as well.
So yeah, that’s just starting to save. You only have two years, because the first car is scheduled to be delivered to customers in the 4th quarter of next year.
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