WHEELS
Rolls-Royce Spectre
from £275,000 / rolls-roycemotorcars.com
Ah, splendid, I’m due a new Rolls. The usual 6.75L engine?
Not at all: the Spectre is the iconic brand’s first electric car – part of a concerted effort to move away from combustion engines by 2030. They’re calling it an ultra-luxury super-coupé, complete with rear-hinged doors. A low drag coefficient of just 0.25 means the car should deliver lots of ‘waft’ factor and a sublime ride through its planar suspension system.
What’s it like on the inside?
Rolls-Royce will be including its new-gen Spirit infotainment system, supplemented by the aptly titled Whispers app that lets owners set the car up just as they wish. Meanwhile there’s lots of interior bling, including optional ‘Starlight’ doors with no less than 5876 illuminated dots. So you can gaze at the stars without even looking up.
And what’s the range?
With a kerb weight of 2975kg, this is a heavy EV despite lots of aluminium being used in its build (well, it is over 5m long). Even so, Rolls-Royce predicts a range of over 320 miles. Thanks to a beefy 120kWh battery plus 577bhp and 664lb/ft of torque it should also be reasonably rapid, with 0-62mph arriving in 4.5secs. And it’ll support recharging speeds of around 200kW.
Well, that all seems to be in order. Can I have one delivered to my Monaco apartment?
Sure you can you afford it? While the base price is likely to be around £275,000, nobody ever orders a Rolls without lots of custom trimmings – so the Spectre will cost most buyers more like £500,000 or more. Reassuringly, while BMW might own the brand nowadays, the car will still be built in Goodwood, West Sussex.
Hyundai’sIoniq6 is an all-electric saloon whose 77.4kWh AWD edition offers a range of 380 miles and a 0-60mph timeof5.1secs.The design is sleeker thantheIoniq5and the comfort and tech levels inside make it a treat to drive, while digital door mirrors only enhance the ‘premium’ experience.
The Pure Advance Flex is a smart new take on the electric scooter. It promises more stability and a smoother ride than most, with a design that folds away smaller than ever. You also get built-in indicators, puncture-proof tyres and a range of around 25 miles on a charge, while the IP65 resistance rating means it’s Britain-proof.
Best enjoyed in its e-Power e-4orce incarnation, the latest Nissan X-Trail delivers a neat twist on electric motoring without the need to plug in: there’s a petrol engine, but it only charges the battery. It’s also gotplentyofin-car tech, including a 12.3in infotainment screen and HUD… and this SUV won’t mind if you decide to go off-road.
For your ears only
With all the martini-drinking, baddie-busting and womanising that James Bond does, he probably doesn’t get a lot of t
