Rolls-Royce Motor Cars PressClub · Article.
THE EXTRAORDINARY UNDERTAKING CONTINUES: SPECTRE APPROACHES TWO MILLION KILOMETRE MARK IN LATEST PHASE OF RIGOROUS GLOBAL TESTING
08.02.2023 Press Release
Spectre is currently undergoing extreme hot weather tests in two locations in South Africa. Rolls-Royce’s genre-defining all-electric super coupé, has now covered almost two million kilometres as it completes the third phase of the most rigorous testing programme ever devised in the marque’s 118-year history.
Press Contact.
Georgina Cox
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
Tel: +44 (0) 7815 370 878
send an e-mail
Author.
Georgina Cox
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
This article in other PressClubs
- Rolls-Royce continues 2.5 million kilometre testing programme of all-electric Spectre
- Almost 2 million kilometres of testing now completed across the world
- Extreme hot weather testing currently being undertaken in South Africa at 50°C
- ‘Marginal gains’ theory employed to make substantial overall improvements
- Spectre will be cycled through ‘final four seasons’ of conditions to ratify results
- Final ‘Lifestyle Analysis’ process will conclude Spectre testing
“Spectre has already secured its place as the most anticipated
Rolls-Royce in history. This remarkable and transformative motor car
represents the beginning of the marque’s bold electric era as well
as our unquestionable technological leadership of the super-luxury
space. Equally, this vast, ambitious and demanding testing process
symbolises our promise to ensure Spectre is undoubtedly a
Rolls-Royce first. A profound aspect of our approach to this
precious brand is to inspire greatness in everything we do and with
Spectre, we are elevating the automotive experience to unparalleled
heights, creating a new benchmark of distinction. It is the
fulfilment of this promise that underpins the marque’s ongoing
success and drives our constant focus to meet, and exceed, the
expectations of our discerning clients.”
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce
Motor Cars
“The reason for our extraordinary and restless global testing
process is simple: there has never been a motor car like Spectre
before. As the first all-electric Rolls-Royce, Spectre represents
not just a new paradigm in our technology, but the entire future
direction of our brand. Only Rolls-Royce engineers could conceive
this astonishing journey, and only Rolls-Royce engineers could
undertake it: the task is not to test a motor car but to elevate the
benchmark of automotive excellence.”
Dr. Mihiar Ayoubi, Director of Engineering, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
ROLLS-ROYCE SPECTRE: HOT WEATHER TESTING
Spectre, Rolls-Royce’s genre-defining all-electric
super coupé, has now covered almost two million kilometres as it
completes the third phase of the most rigorous testing programme ever
devised in the marque’s 118-year history. This has already surpassed
every Rolls-Royce testing programme before it – and it is still far
from over.
Spectre is currently undergoing extreme hot weather tests in two
locations in South Africa: Augrabies in the Northern Cape; and
Franschhoek, the ‘French Corner’ in the Western Cape winelands. The
stable yet contrasting climates provide some of the finest
summer-weather driving in the world, with dry and extremely hot
conditions in the north and more humid, Mediterranean-style,
conditions in the south. At its hottest, temperatures can exceed 50°C,
while the southern region hosts a great variety of surfaces and
terrains, including twisting country roads replete with gravel, dust
and dirt. Truly testing conditions, by any measure.
During this stage, engineers are observing and refining every
system, hardware item and software protocol that has been developed
over the course of almost two million kilometres of continuous
testing. Only through such painstaking assessments can Rolls-Royce’s
technical experts achieve the exacting levels of ride refinement that
are so central to the experience beloved by clients, and successfully
translate the marque’s defining ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ to the new
all-electric paradigm.
Throughout Spectre’s testing, each of the motor car’s 25,000
separate performance-related functions have been meticulously tailored
to deliver a quintessentially Rolls-Royce experience. The refinements
being made now follow the principles of ‘marginal gains’, in which
individual, very small and incremental adjustments cumulatively
produce a significant overall improvement. Though widely used and
proven in elite sport and high-level business, this theory is being
used during Spectre testing to an unprecedented extent, as part of the
wider validation process characterised internally as the Rolls-Royce
Finishing School.
Examples of the meticulous attention-to-detail that Spectre
prototypes are being subjected to are manifold but often impossible to
quantify, as they represent the judgement and instinct of the marque’s
peerless and long-standing engineering elite. For example, over 1500
hours have already been dedicated to finessing the car’s regenerative
braking to ensure it feels effortless but present. Data-logging
equipment processes sensor inputs generated by this braking force, to
ensure that adjustments do not compromise the overall serenity of
Spectre under any driving conditions. However, it is only the
experience and judgement of long-standing Rolls-Royce engineers that
can ensure the motor car will, when testing is completed, meet the
inimitable standards required to deliver an elevated expression of the
Rolls-Royce experience.
Similarly, anti-roll stabilisation is being tuned to reflect the
dynamic promise of Spectre’s dramatic super-coupé design while still
delivering on the marque’s hallmark ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ qualities. In
South Africa, this testing has specific significance as high
temperatures can alter the hardness of rubber suspension components,
providing a parameter that is bookended by the results of extreme cold
weather testing.
This exhaustive approach has also been applied to ensuring the
correct colour-quality and brightness for the theatre of light that is
prompted by opening Spectre’s coach door. To ensure a sense of harmony
in the cabin, whatever the external light conditions, all internal
illuminations, including the marque’s celebrated Bespoke Starlight
Headliner, instrument cluster and SPIRIT interface, must be perfectly
coordinated. This requires detailed analysis of a global range of
sunlight exposure and types, to ensure consistency of colour-quality
wherever in the world Spectre is.
As the car approaches the later phases of its exhaustive testing
programme, further adjustments will be made to sealing materials to
deliver Rolls-Royce’s famed aero-acoustic performance. This process is
essential because rubber sealing materials perform differently through
the spectrum of temperatures. For example, during Spectre’s testing
phase at Arjeplog in Sweden, seals hardened in sub-zero temperatures.
Conversely, in South Africa, Rolls-Royce engineers will be assessing
the acoustic performance of seals softened in hotter conditions. Their
work is therefore to find optimum balance to ensure the cabin is
insulated in all extremes of climate.
In South Africa and throughout the remaining programme, the
audio system will also be tuned and finessed to achieve fractional
gains in the quality of the sound offered through Spectre’s 17
speakers. Following initial testing and calibration in a laboratory
setting, the system is now being tested exhaustively in real-world
conditions. A specially curated playlist presenting a wide range of
genres to represent a full spectrum of sonic requirements is used.
This commitment to ensuring perfect acoustic performance extends
to the key functions of the motor car. Indeed, even the speed at which
the self-closing coach doors shut is being scrutinised to ensure that
the perfect level of positive noise is generated upon closure.
ROLLS-ROYCE SPECTRE: THE EXTRAORDINARY UNDERTAKING NEARS COMPLETION
When the experience and data collected
from South Africa has been fully analysed, and relevant actions and
measures have been implemented, Spectre’s testing programme will be
around 80% complete as it sets off on the final ratification phase.
This consists of taking the motor car through a condensed programme of
‘all-season’ testing, including return visits to the Arctic extremes
of Arjeplog and the more temperate conditions of the Côte d'Azur.
The final 500,000 kilometres of Spectre testing will focus on
Lifestyle Analysis. This proprietary testing process will see Spectre
tested in super-luxury situations and use-cases specific to
Rolls-Royce clients, to ensure Spectre performs as required in the
centre of global megacities, around new and historical luxury
destinations, and in other settings commensurate with owners’ needs,
habits and lifestyles.
ROLLS-ROYCE SPECTRE: TESTING BACKGROUND
Ahead of the first cars being delivered to clients,
scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2023, Spectre has undergone
exhaustive trials designed to replicate almost 400 years of normal
use, in some of the most extreme conditions on Earth. In total, the
car will cover more than 2.5 million kilometres – the equivalent of
circumnavigating the globe 62 times.
Testing began in the winter of 2021 at a special testing
facility in Arjeplog, Sweden, just 55 kilometres from the Arctic
Circle. In temperatures of -40°C, Rolls-Royce engineers examined and
refined every aspect of Spectre’s performance and handling in snow and
ice, and any effects of prolonged extreme cold on the motor car’s
batteries and other electronic systems.
With this examination successfully completed, Spectre then spent
the summer of 2022 in the sunnier, but no less exacting climes of the
French Riviera and around the Côte d’Azur. This included testing at
the historic Autodrome de Miramas proving ground, a former Grand Prix
circuit that now provides over 60 kilometres of closed routes and 20
state-of-the-art test track environments. The majority of the testing,
however, was conducted in the Provençal countryside, assessing
Spectre’s capabilities under real-world conditions in an area where
many production cars are likely to spend their lives.
CO2 EMISSIONS & CONSUMPTION.
WLTP: Power consumption: 2.9 mi/kWh. / 21.5 kWh/100km*. Electric
range: 323 miles / 520 kilometres*. Co2 emissions 0 g/km.
*Preliminary data not yet confirmed, subject to change.
Article Offline Attachments.
-
Rolls-Royce Spectre Testing in South Africa.docx DOCX, EN, 80.23 KB
-
[CN] Rolls-Royce Spectre Testing in South Africa PDF, ZH-CN, 489.29 KB
-
[VI] Rolls-Royce Spectre Testing in South Africa PDF, VI, 248.55 KB
-
[ID] Rolls-Royce Spectre Testing in South Africa PDF, ID, 187.63 KB
-
[JA] Rolls-Royce Spectre Testing in South Africa PDF, JA, 515.73 KB
-
[KO] Rolls-Royce Spectre Testing in South Africa PDF, KO, 228.94 KB