However, Rolls-Royce director of engineering Mihiar Ayoubi offered lots of insight into the wider technical development of the Spectre and its early progress. The battery, for example, plays a key role in the overall package. It is completely flat underneath to allow for a smooth floor to improve aerodynamic efficiency. The battery’s mounting also enables better weight distribution front to rear for improved ride comfort and handling, and a low centre of gravity. In addition, it has acoustic benefits, allowing Rolls-Royce to use less than the 120kg of soundproofing found in the Phantom.
Rolls-Royce has confirmed that the car will ride on 23in wheels in production, the largest fitted to a coupé since the 1926 Bugatti Royale, and that it will adopt a twin-motor set-up with one sited on each axle for four-wheel drive.
Familiar chassis technology from other Rolls-Royce models, including the rear-wheel steering and active anti-roll systems, are carried over, too. In terms of styling, the split headlight design of the Phantom Coupé will return on the Spectre.
Ayoubi said the initial development at the firm’s test site in Arjeplog, Sweden, was to first ensure the prototypes function as expected and then set the parameters for the tests to come. “The car has only just learned to walk,” he said.
In this early development (the Spectre mule we saw was just 25% representative of a finished production example), The new Spectre will have a 700kg battery mounted in a flat floor much of the work is ensuring the basic components – such as the windows, doors, heating and cooling, and rubber seals – work as they should in an extreme environment. But “as silence is luxury”, said Ayoubi, “they need to not only perform in these conditions but perform silently”.