The $420,000 Rolls-Royce Spectre isn’t beholden to conventional electrical automobile requirements. Who cares how briskly the battery pack costs? That’s an issue on your assistant, or your assistant’s assistant. Must journey farther than the Spectre’s 300-ish-mile driving vary? No huge deal. Simply take one in every of your gas-powered Rolls-Royces. Or your aircraft. Absolutely you’ve gotten a aircraft.

None of that is hyperbole, by the best way; have you ever ever truly met a Rolls-Royce proprietor? These persons are not going to place themselves by the unfathomable hardship of compromising simply to allow them to park an EV in one of many many garages of their many houses. Due to this, the Spectre is a Rolls-Royce first and an electrical automobile second – and all the higher for it.

(Full disclosure: Rolls-Royce flew me to Napa Valley and put me up on the 4 Seasons so I may drive the brand new Spectre. Weirdly, I solely had two glasses of champagne.)

Electrical energy completely fits a Rolls-Royce. Bear in mind, it is a firm that builds one hell of a twin-turbo V12 however then intentionally does all the pieces humanly attainable to mute the engine from the expertise of driving – or being pushed. Quiet, easy energy is what a Rolls-Royce is all about.

Ballot a future Spectre proprietor and so they in all probability received’t know that their automobile is powered by a 102-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery. They doubtless received’t notice {that a} pair of electrical motors offers the big coupe all-wheel drive, nor will they be capable of rattle off the headline specs: 577 hp, 664 lb-ft of torque, 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds.

As a substitute, they’ll let you know this automobile simply goes, and that it looks like their different Rolls-Royces – a attribute that’s completely intentional. Relatively than instant torque supply that smacks you within the ass on takeoff, Rolls-Royce inbuilt a delay, mimicking the turbo lag of the gasoline V12. Even at velocity, rolling onto the throttle isn’t met with stab-and-grab acceleration; the Spectre would a lot reasonably carry out its personal crescendo.

That music pun jogs my memory: Rolls-Royce engineered a symphony of futuristic faux electrical noises to accompany the powertrain’s acceleration, however they simply find yourself feeling kitschy. With a automobile this centered on quiet, keep-the-world-and-its-poor-people-out isolation above all, why pipe in some additional spaceship sounds? Even Rolls-Royce’s executives candidly admit they like to drive the Spectre with the woo-wee sounds off. As a result of they’ve class.

Digital anti-roll tech is a godsend for preserving this 6,372-pound porker planted whereas cornering, by no means letting any pavement undulation or uncouth steering motion upset the Spectre’s wafty experience, even on mega 23-inch wheels. Nevertheless, the steering is definitely surprisingly darty at occasions, feeling just a little extra overboosted than you may count on. A minimum of the Spectre has a barely totally different steering wheel than different Rolls-Royces, with a thicker rim that feels extra satisfying to grip.

Planning to be chauffeured in your Spectre? Then disregard that final paragraph. As a substitute, you’ll be comfortable to know that Rolls-Royce determined towards utilizing any digital brake regen within the coupe’s normal driving mode so the Spectre can nonetheless ship the smooth-and-steady stopping traits that’ll hold you from spilling any champagne. (For actual, Rolls-Royce truly calls this the “champagne cease” and teaches it to chauffeurs.) You’ll additionally love the additional 375 kilos of sound deadening Rolls-Royce shoved into the Spectre, in addition to the 0.26 drag coefficient, making wind noise rattling close to nonexistent.

The Spectre isn’t completely with out regen, nonetheless. Use the dainty column-mounted gear selector – which is plastic for some dumb purpose – and you may put the Spectre in “B” mode, which supplies it as near one-pedal driving as Rolls-Royce permits. Lifting off the throttle received’t make the coupe’s nostril dive like in lots of EVs with robust power recuperation – champagne cease, keep in mind – and you may’t regen your manner to a whole halt. However this additionally means the transition between digital and mechanical braking is severely {smooth}.

I genuinely can’t complain about the best way the Spectre drives. Is it thrilling? Not even just a little. However does it really feel like a correct Rolls-Royce? Heavens, sure. It’s bliss. Really.

My precise gripes in regards to the Spectre are fairly pedantic within the grand scheme of issues. Nonetheless, I hate that the beltline is so excessive as a result of it makes it more durable for shorter-torsoed individuals like me to get a great view of the highway forward. The massaging seats are additionally form of gradual and weak, which I wouldn’t usually take to process, however come on, it is a Rolls-freaking-Royce. Additionally, the complete heart console and central sprint design are ripped from the corporate’s present automobiles, and whereas all the pieces feels nice, I used to be actually hoping for one thing brisker. Love these weighty steel air vent plungers, although.

Let me be clear: As an entire, the Spectre’s inside is implausible. You received’t discover this stage of high quality match and end in every other automobile on sale at present, and I really like the endlessly customizable shade and trim choices. Rolls’ starlight headliner is right here, correctly, and this opulent illumination tech is newly obtainable on the Spectre’s huge rear-hinged coach doorways.

The cabin tech is so much higher now, too, with a totally digital instrument panel and an up to date infotainment system that depends on BMW’s iDrive software program. The navigation system has augmented actuality overlays, that are useful for locating the following cease in your Napa wine tour, and you may sync all the pieces about your Spectre with Rolls-Royce’s proprietor app, Whispers, which, coincidentally, can also be the title of a resort bar I used to frequent in San Francisco. In all probability not the identical clientele, however who is aware of.

All informed, Rolls-Royce’s first electrical automobile is a banger, and a complete looker, as effectively. (Get it in pink!) For almost all of shoppers, who already personal a number of Rolls-Royces, the Spectre will really feel proper at residence. Plush, quiet, spacious and confidently powered, the Spectre is precisely what you’d count on of a Rolls-Royce, electrical or in any other case.