Rolls-Royce Spectre (bev) vs Audi Q8 E-Tron

What's the difference?

Ask any opinionated car enthusiast why it is that they hate electric cars, and you’re going to hear the same word revving them up - “noise”.

Sure, EVs might be fast, and even the most old-world-loving petrol head (are we going to have to come up with a new term, soon? Power crazed? Amp-head? Copper top?) will grant you that they can be fun to drive, but the argument is that you just can’t love a car as much if it doesn’t make shouty sounds.

But there is one bunch of well-heeled car lovers who will demur on this topic, and for whom the idea of switching a big, stupidly powerful V12 engine for whispering electric motors seems to be no issue at all - Rolls-Royce fans.

They have, allegedly, been knocking down the doors at Goodwood, demanding that Rolls build them an EV, and finally it has arrived, in the stunning shape of the Spectre, and the orders are pouring in. 

We flew to the Napa Valley in California to try it out.

Things that have had a name change AFTER they’ve become famous…

Okay… there’s Kanye West’s switch to Ye, Twitter’s rebranding to X and now this – the Audi Q8 e-tron.

As the brand’s first production EV, it used to be known simply as Audi e-tron. But that was confusing, because – Porsche Taycan-based GT and RS sports sedans aside ­– every electrified vehicle that the company has made before and since wears e-tron as a suffix.

Beyond new badging, the Q8 e-tron also brings a facelift and improvements underneath, to better challenge the BMW iX, Jaguar I-Pace and Mercedes EQC and EQE large electric SUVs, among others.

How does the Ingolstadt EV fare? Let’s find out.