Rolls-Royce CEO compares Spectre EV to first Apple iPhone; flipping is prohibited
Don’t try flipping the new Rolls-Royce all-electric Spectre, or you may get blacklisted from the brand. While comparing the automaker’s first EV to the first Apple iPhone, Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös says flippers will be “immediately on a blacklist.”
In October, Rolls-Royce unveiled the Spectre, its first fully electric car, calling it the world’s first ultraluxury EV super coupe.
Despite releasing the EV just last year, electrification has been a part of the company’s history for over 100 years. Rolls-Royce Founder Charles Royce explained in 1900, “The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean. There is no smell or vibration, and they should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged.”
With charging stations rolling out at a record pace, Rolls-Royce has no more excuses. The number of charging ports in the US increased more in 2022 than in the previous three years combined.
In addition, thanks to government and private funding, the US is on track to deploy a network of 1.2 million EV chargers by 2030, up from almost 130,000.
Rolls-Royce introduced the Spectre as the next generation of the brand and successor to the Phantom Coupe.
Rolls-Royce Spectre EV reminiscent of the first iPhone?
In a recent interview with Car Dealer Magazine, Müller-Ötvös explained, “Many buyers see Spectre as the very first proposition in the ultra-luxury segment to go electric, and that is quite something,” with 40% of buyers new to the brand. He added:
It’s a similar kind of feeling as in 2007, to carry your very first iPhone in your pocket to be seen behind the wheel of a Spectre.
Unlike the iPhone, Rolls-Royce will not allow its electric Spectre super coupe to be traded like a phone. Müller-Ötvös told dealers that buyers looking to flip the Spectre for a profit would be banned from buying another Rolls-Royce model for life.
At a launch event in California, the brand’s leader said you first need to qualify for the car, and “then you might get a slot for an order.” If buyers try to resell for a profit, he says:
They’re going immediately on a blacklist and this is it – you will never ever have the chance to acquire again.
The first Rolls-Royce EV goes on sale this summer, with deliveries beginning in the fall. Prices start around $424K (£330,000), but according to the report, most will leave the factory with a price tag upward of $578K (£450,000).
Despite the claims, some have already lined up buyers. Supercar dealer Tim Hartley, known for selling used secondhand Rolls-Royce vehicles, said he has already agreed to two $65K (£50,000) premiums for Spectre models.
Hartley disagrees with the brand’s leader, saying:
Money talks and manufacturers will never stop successful entrepreneurs, businessmen and aristocrats from selling their cars.
He says he doesn’t believe it’s “fair for car makers to tell customers who have spent close to half a million pounds on a car what they can do with it.” He added, “It’s not right. People’s circumstances change, they could have a genuine reason for the sale, such as financial problems.”
Electrek’s Take
I get where Müller-Ötvös is coming from, as he wants to protect the legacy of the brand’s first all-electric model, but to blacklist people for flipping is a little extreme.
As Hartley explains, the new Spectre will have a premium, or a window where you can sell it for more than you bought it, but it will only be a short time, and “some owners will want to cash in on that.” Many Rolls-Royce buyers are in business, and “in that world sometimes a healthy profit talks.”
What do you all think? Is Rolls-Royce out of line for blacklisting customers for flipping its first EV for a profit? Or is Müller-Ötvös on to something? Let us know in the comments.
Image credit: Rolls-Royce
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In a joint statement, French and German economists have called on governments to adopt “a common approach” to decarbonize European trucking fleets – and they’re calling for a focus on fully electric trucks, not hydrogen.
France and Germany are the two largest economies in the EU, and they share similar challenges when it comes to freight decarbonization. The two countries also share a border, and the traffic between the two nations generates major cross-border flows that create common externalities between the two countries.
At the same time, the EU’s transport sector has struggled to reduce emissions at the same rate as other industries – and road freight in particular is a major contributor to harmful carbon emissions issue due to that industry’s heavy reliance on diesel-powered trucks.
And for once, it seems like rail isn’t a viable option:
While rail remains competitive mainly for heavy, homogeneous goods over long distances. Most freight in Europe is indeed transported over distances of less than 200 km and involves consignment weights of up to 30 tonnes (GCEE, 2024) In most such cases, transportation by rail instead of truck is not possible or not competitive. Moreover, taking into account the goods currently transported in intermodal transport units over distances of more than 300 km, the modal shift potential from road to rail would be only 6% in Germany and less than 2% in France.
That leaves trucks – and, while numerous government incentives currently exist to promote the parallel development of both hydrogen and battery electric vehicle infrastructures, the study is clear in picking a winner.
“Policies should focus on battery-electric trucks (BET) as these represent the most mature and market-ready technology for road freight transport,” reads the the FGCEE statement. “Hence, to ramp-up usage of BET public funding should be used to accelerate the roll-out of fast-charging networks along major corridors and in private depots.”
The appeal was signed by the co-chair of the advisory body on the German side is the chairwoman of the German Council of Economic Experts, Monika Schnitzer. Camille Landais co-chairs the French side. On the German side, the appeal was signed by four of the five experts; Nuremberg-based energy economist Veronika Grimm (who also sits on the National Hydrogen Council, which is committed to promoting H2 trucks and filling stations) did not sign.
You can read an English version of the CAE FGCEE joint statement here.
Electrek’s Take
MAN Trucks’ CEO famously said that it was “impossible” for hydrogen to compete with BEVs, and even committed to building 200 hydrogen-powered semi truck to prove out that hypothesis.
He’s not alone. MAN’s board member for research and development, Frederik Zohm, said that the company is the one saying hydrogen still has years to go. “(MAN) continues to research fuel cell technology based on battery electrics,” he said, in a statement quoted by Hydrogen Insight, before another board member added that, “we (MAN) expect that, in the future, we will be able to best serve the vast majority of our customers’ transport applications with battery-electric trucks.”
With companies like Volvo and Renault and now Mercedes racking up millions of miles on their respective battery electric semi truck fleets, it’s no longer even close. EV is the way.
SOURCE | IMAGES: CAE FGCEE; via Electrive.
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GE Vernova has produced over half the turbines needed for SunZia Wind, which will be the largest wind farm in the Western Hemisphere when it comes online in 2026.
GE Vernova has manufactured enough turbines at its Pensacola, Florida, factory to supply over 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of the turbines needed for the $5 billion, 2.4 GW SunZia Wind, a project milestone. The wind farm will be sited in Lincoln, Torrance, and San Miguel counties in New Mexico.
At a ribbon-cutting event for Pensacola’s new customer experience center, GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik noted that since 2023, the company has invested around $70 million in the Pensacola factory.
The Pensacola investments are part of the announcement GE Vernova made in January that it will invest nearly $600 million in its US factories and facilities over the next two years to help meet the surging electricity demands globally. GE Vernova says it’s expecting its investments to create more than 1,500 new US jobs.
Vic Abate, CEO of GE Vernova Wind, said, “Our dedicated employees in Pensacola are working to address increasing energy demands for the US. The workhorse turbines manufactured at this world-class factory are engineered for reliability and scalability, ensuring our customers can meet growing energy demand.”
SunZia Wind and Transmission will create US history’s largest clean energy infrastructure project.
Read more: The largest clean energy project in US history closes $11B, starts full construction
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