Rolls-Royce's first all-electric car wraps up winter tests

By dpa | 31 March 2022


LONDON: Rolls-Royce has finished road testing of its first all-electric production car, the Spectre, near the Arctic Circle ahead of a market debut in 2023, the British company has announced.

Enduring temperatures of up to -40° Celcius, the car has now completed 25% of its 2.5-million-km testing programme said to simulate 400 years of use.

The Spectre is a two-door grand tourer with a long bonnet and muscular proportions and is shaping up to replace the Wraith, which first appeared 2013.

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The gruelling tests are essential to ensure the legendary reliability of the brand, says Rolls-Royce, which prides itself on the reputation that its cars "never break down."

Despite the pledge, models can still occasionally be seen on the hook of a tow truck.

Among the legendary tales of Roller reliability is the story told about "Jungle Book" author Rudyard Kipling.

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His pre-war Phantom once suddenly "failed to proceed," prompting a call to the firm's Paris distributor.

A day later, Kipling is said to have complained that no one had come to fix his vehicle, only to be told by the manager that a team of Rolls-Royce engineers arrived in the early hours, repaired the Phantom and discreetly left before dawn so as not to disturb the owner.


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