You’d think that a car priced at well over $400,000 wouldn’t be in high demand and yet Rolls-Royce has received enough orders for the Spectre to keep busy until 2025. Speaking with BMWBLOG at Villa d’Este, CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös said placing a new order today means the customer will have to patiently wait for nearly two years to take delivery.

Of course, Rolls-Royce models are carefully crafted as perfection takes time, with each car having to through a meticulous production process followed by a thorough inspection to guarantee excellent build quality. Even in 2022 when the ultra-luxury brand posted record annual sales, it delivered only 6,021 cars. In other words, the capacity at the Goodwood factory is limited as the BMW Group brand is focused on quality rather than quantity.

RR’s top brass believes the company’s first EV will not cannibalize sales of other models such as the Ghost. He argues people shopping for the Spectre already own one of the V12-powered vehicles carrying the prestigious Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament. Even before introducing the zero-emission model in October 2022, the company already had over 300 preorders from the US alone.  At the beginning of the year, Torsten Müller-Ötvös told Automotive News Europe that production could increase to match the unexpectedly strong demand.

Meanwhile, this gorgeous pre-production prototype in right-hand-drive specification was showcased during last weekend’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. The first deliveries to customers are scheduled to take place in the last quarter of 2023. Rolls-Royce has not released the final technical specifications, but the head honcho says customers won’t be needing more than the estimated 311 miles (500 kilometers) of range. RR doesn’t consider the Spectre a Wraith successor but rather a replacement for the long-defunct Phantom Coupe.

Spectre signals the beginning of the end for combustion-engined cars considering the V12 will be retired altogether by the end of the decade. Yes, Rolls-Royce will become a purely electric brand in 2030, with MINI to follow shortly thereafter. The core BMW brand has yet to announce a cutoff date for the ICE, but given previous statements, it will be a while before the last gasoline/diesel car will roll off the assembly line.