Rolls-Royce Spectre review

So, the price. It’s £275,000 plus tax, and Rolls-Royce predicts most will be optioned and individualised beyond £400,000. Biggest markets will be the US and China, and demand is so strong that if you order a Spectre today (summer 2023) it won’t arrive until mid-2025. 

Rolls-Royce doesn’t publish an ‘options list’. If you have to ask, and all that. But rest assured the bespoke hi-fi is spectacular, all of the alloy wheel options look superb, and two-tone paint is a tightrope of good/bad taste. You have been warned.

What about running costs?

You reckon many Spectre owners will be setting up an off-peak energy tariff to charge their Spectre overnight? A 7kW wallbox will fully charge the battery in around 15 hours, if you’re interested. Naturally, you’ll have to pay the higher tax rate in the UK given the Spectre costs over £40,000. Quite a lot more, in fact.

Plugging in at your mansion? That 102kWh battery will cost about £30 to fill from empty based on current UK tariffs. Expect that figure to double if you send your driver out to top up at a public rapid charger.

Real-world range is somewhere around 260-280 miles. The fullest charge we were able to test drive was 85 per cent, with 265 miles showing on the display. Efficiency settled at 2.4mi/kWh, which is better than we managed with a Mercedes EQC and Audi Q8 e-tron. That demonstrated that Rolls Royce’s aerodynamics aren’t just hogwash – it does appear to slip undisturbed through the air.

Rivals?

There simply aren't any. There is no all-electric Bentley or Maybach to compete. The closest thing possible to an all-electric luxury car is the Mercedes EQS, but that feels like an A-class once you've been exposed to the Spectre's all-round magnificence.