When the words “depreciation” and “Rolls-Royce” are spoken in the same sentence, it likely means a bad decision is being justified or encouraged. We’re not here to talk about that today; rather, we’re here to report the news. Electric vehicles plummet in value like no other car on the market, no matter the price, performance, or plushness.
Rolls-Royce is one of the brands that didn’t need help from an electric powertrain to plummet its second-hand values, but the addition of the Spectre makes the chunk of change lost on a Cullinan after the first two years look like the financially-safer option. But the role it plays as the first all-electric Rolls is far more important to the company than how fast it drops in value.
What The Spectre Was Built To Do
2027 Rolls-Royce Spectre Series II dynamic photography.Rolls-Royce
The accessibility of Rolls-Royce motorcars—one can’t use other words to describe such a mode of transportation—is not an intended byproduct of aging models. BMW’s ownership of Rolls-Royce brought money, engineering, and comparatively better reliability. What it didn’t bring was a way to reinforce resale values or capitalize on used sales. All luxury cars follow steep depreciation curves, but the more expensive ones tend to drop off quickly thanks to costly options that don’t translate to high residual values, or bespoke trimmings that the next owner might find ghastly.
Rolls still seeks out perfection in all its new cars, continuing the legacy of advanced engineering pioneered by Henry Royce and the essence of supreme luxury mandated by Charles Rolls. Rolls-Royce cars completed in the factory were robust, luxurious, and quiet (early models had bespoke coach-built bodies placed atop rolling chassis), all things that the brand still champions today. If there was a way to make an engine smoother, quieter, and faster, both Rolls and Royce would’ve been interested in seeing how.
Modern electric powertrains are now strong enough to compete with combustion engines in both power and range, which meant there was no better time for Rolls to enlist the help of an EV propulsion system to build the quietest, smoothest, or swiftest ultra-luxury vehicle money can buy. The Spectre was born out of that school of thinking, built for the sole purpose of exemplifying motoring in the 21st century.
The pitch to consumers was easy, too, as the Spectre is the two-door coupe that replaced the Ghost-based Wraith and offers an EPA-estimated 264 miles of usable range. Should a Spectre owner travel farther, they would likely choose some method of air transportation.
High-net-worth individuals who can afford a Spectre may already have owned an EV, which means they have an established use case for a car that requires planning when traveling. Now that Rolls-Royce cars are more for show than for crossing continents in peak comfort, the Spectre’s range is more than sufficient for celebrities or influencers to show off on short jaunts to parties and club openings.
An action shot of the 2025 Rolls-Royce Spectre on a mountain roadRolls-Royce
We’ve reported on the used car market for quite some time now, so it should come as no surprise why some automakers aren’t able to prevent used values from crashing down. Elements that dictate values of used EVs include location, incentives (or lack thereof), and technological advancement. The segment that returns the most robust values for EVs is the mainstream sedan and crossover market, which are able to hold more of their value after a few years of ownership compared to that of high-end luxury or performance EVs.
Buyers in this market are searching for the most practical vehicles, whereas buyers of performance cars are looking for the most power on tap. Range is of little concern to folks who have no plans on taking their EV on long road trips, and if they do, are unbothered by recharging times or modified route planning. Others who frequently drive long-distances are waiting for the next round of cars with longer range to hit the showroom, thus leaving more cars on the used market and slowly pulling prices down.
Luxury EV Depreciation Is The Perfect Storm
An interior shot of the 2025 Rolls-Royce Spectre Rolls-Royce
As before, there’s no way any brand can curb EV depreciation, for a few reasons. The first is the rate at which battery technology improves each year. Each time a new vehicle is announced with more range, better power, and faster charging, whatever is currently on sale looks archaic by comparison. Combustion engine vehicles (hybrids included) don’t receive changes as drastically as EVs do year after year.
Combine luxury car depreciation with EV depreciation, and you’ve got one nervous accountant ready to advise against making such a purchase. Granted, if you can afford a $400,000 car, depreciation isn’t of the slightest concern to you. When new, a 2024 Spectre would set you back $420,000 just by walking in the door. After a few options, that bill could ring up closer to $460,000 (wheel prices and other options can reach upwards of $10,000 a pop). And if you go for all the trimmings, you’re looking at a sticker price over $530,000. A couple of years later, those same cars are anywhere from $350,000 to $425,000 depending on mileage.
Rolls-Royce Spectre PrimaveraRolls-Royce
Without knowing what options these cars are equipped with, or what the original MSRPs are for each, we can still use the averages above to discern a Spectre’s two-year depreciation rate of 24% if a car was $460k new and sells for $350k today. If one had all the trimmings and cost $530k new, it would’ve lost 34% of its value if it was worth $350k in 2026. The Spectre isn’t without company at that level of depreciation. 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ models are appearing on the used market having lost a third of their value in half the time the Spectre took to shed $100k from its original sticker price.
Compared to the Spectre’s gas-powered four-door sibling, the Ghost, Kelley Blue Book says a fair purchase price for a 2024 model is $294,000. Its quoted base MSRP of $357,350 means it would have dropped only 18% in value over two years. The Cullinan, the first SUV manufactured by Rolls-Royce, has lost 17% of its value with an entry price of $394,350 in 2024 and a national average of $328,000 in 2026.
What Does This Mean For Us?
The front quarter of the 1016 Industries Rolls-Royce Spectre.RDB
It’s unlikely the rate of depreciation will make the Spectre attainable to anyone on a tight budget before the end of the decade, but it instills the belief that the market treats all electric vehicles the same regardless of what the badge says. EV motors provide horsepower in bulk and deliver peak torque from a standstill, each car differentiating itself from the others by the noises it makes and the sensations it delivers. Luxury cars are supposed to represent the best money can buy, powertrains included, and Rolls-Royce has yet to produce an electric power plant different enough from anyone else’s to warrant calling the Spectre the best Rolls-Royce to date.
The powerful, smooth V12 engines used in Rolls-Royce cars not only emphasized the luxury experience, they represented everything that made the brand’s cars iconic and unrivaled. You couldn’t get that kind of engine in a mundane vehicle, nor would it perform like any other car for a quarter of the price. Electric powertrains remove more than just what we call the soul of a car; they carve out the defining characteristic of a storied nameplate and replace it with the same motor used to power an electric razor.
Why the Spectre might be absolved of any criticism for being all-electric is because of Rolls-Royce’s mission to build a swift, quiet, luxurious automobile. The Spectre returns that experience, but over the years Rolls-Royce has built its appeal around being able to achieve that with a gasoline-powered engine. The V12 is synonymous with the best in the business. Whether bored in Maranello and raced at Le Mans by Ferrari, or milled in Goodwood and used to propel royalty by Rolls-Royce, it’s the defining characteristic that makes a car unforgettable.
Sources: CarEdge, Kelley Blue Book, Rolls-Royce.
