The next year 2023 will be marked as a historic date for Rolls-Royce, since it will mean the arrival of the first luxury electric model at the home of the Spirit of Ecstasy. The model will be the Rolls-Royce Spectre, which has already completed 40% of its development phase and which now announces the start of tests on the urban environment, which will take place on the roads of the French Riviera.
Rolls-Royce’s first electric car has already passed tests as tough as the one it was subjected to on the Arctic Circle and its frigid temperatures of up to -40º Celsius. The objective of the British firm is to be able to carry out a test run of more than 2.5 million kilometers before its commercial launch, which simulates an average of more than 400 years of use for an average Rolls-Royce. Now, the British firm will carry out a total of 625,000 kilometers along the Côte d’Azur.
These tests on the coastal roads of France will be carried out in two phases: one on the Miramas Autodrome, located very close to Marseille; and a second on the aforementioned roads of the French Riviera. Mainly, these routes will be of vital importance for the development of a new electronic stabilizer suspension system, which, according to Rolls-Royce, it will be the closest thing to a “magic carpet ride” in the entire market today. Of course, these tours will also give the opportunity to attract the attention of possible and future potential clients of the model, since the area is well known for hosting large fortunes from all over the world.
The aforementioned suspension system will be one of the most advanced currently, since it will carry out an analysis of the way the vehicle is traveling through satellite navigation data and various sensors that are located around the entire car. This will determine the maximum comfort of its occupants by the engagement and disengagement of the stabilizer bars of the Spectre, in a way that will reduce the discomfort caused by road imperfections.
The tests of the Rolls-Royce Specter on the Côte d’Azur will help the company’s engineers and specialists to ensure “Rolls-Royce style dynamics”, thanks to its multiple types of roads; from urban roads or highways, to winding mountain roads. Until now, the different tests carried out on the prototypes have served to generate less aerodynamic resistance. Initially, the brand assured that this model would present in its production phase an aerodynamic coefficient of 0.26cx, figure that has been slightly reduced to 0.25cx after a series of improvements.
The Rolls-Royce Specter is expected to make its public appearance in early 2023, generating the first deliveries to their owners in the fourth quarter of the same year. At the moment the technical specifications that this luxury electric car will have are unknown, although it has been revealed that this will be the most intelligent vehicle manufactured by the firm in its more than 100-year history.
