Following cold weather assessments earlier this year in Arjeplog, Sweden, Rolls-Royce test and development engineers working on the brand’s first EV, the Spectre, have shifted their focus from extreme conditions to more formal scrutiny in a location that reflects the motor car’s everyday use: the French Riviera.
The region and its roads present a perfect combination of the types of conditions that will be demanded from Spectre’s clients, ranging from technical coastal corniches to faster inland carriageways.
Forming a crucial part of Spectre’s 2,500,000km global testing program, a total of 625,000km will be driven in the region, beginning at the historic Autodrome de Miramas proving ground, located in the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône in Provence. Once a circuit that played host to the 1926 Grand Prix, the site is now a test and development facility, incorporating more than 60km of closed routes and 20 test track environments.
The second phase of testing in the region will take place in the Provençal countryside surrounding the Autodrome de Miramas. This region is enjoyed by many of the marque’s clients, therefore a significant 55% of testing here has taken place on the very roads that many production Spectres will be driven on following first customer deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2023. This provision for testing under local, real-life conditions is to be repeated in key markets around the world.
