It’s hard to fathom a $400,000 car. That’s a nice house, four Corvettes, 10,00 air fryers, or 80,808 Frappuccinos at Starbucks. But we’re talking about the new 2023 Rolls-Royce Spectre here. It’s the company’s first electric car, the company’s flagship, the successor to the Phantom Coupe, and for some, only the best will do.

We won’t bore you with the details of Rolls’ new signature Pantheon Grille (it’s wider), or the near-infinite amount of customization options, its standard 23-inch wheels, or its drag coefficient. We can’t say whether it’s the best electric luxury car in the world, but it is the most expensive and luxurious. So far. But good luck getting one: Rolls-Royce sold out of 2023 Spectres, even at a starting price of $400,000. So, why is it worth that much?

The 2023 Rolls-Royce Spectre has a new aluminum chassis

The new car uses a sophisticated aluminum spaceframe architecture. Aluminum beats steel in many ways, but not the least of which is that it’s lighter than steel. It can be made stronger and stiffer with no weight penalty. Rolls-Royce says the new car is 30% stiffer than any previous Rolls-Royce. The aluminum design also let the designers create a flat floor that’s lower to the ground for this first electric Roller.

The Planar Suspension has some tricks up its sleeve

Off-roaders know the benefits of a suspension that can decouple the roll bars on the go. In short, it allows the wheels to articulate more and respond to bigger bumps. The Spectre’s new Planar suspension system can do the same. In the Roller, this means that the car’s side-to-side rocking motions, sometimes called head toss, are reduced and it provides a smother ride. But, then, if you’re hitting a corner, it can re-connect the roll bars and it stiffens the dampers automatically.

Also, the system is connected to a bank of 18 sensors that adjust steering, braking, power delivery and more. It takes a lot to keep a car this big and heavy tracking true.

The doors are push-button automatic

The Spectre, like the Phantom Coupe, has two gigantic rear-hinged doors. That means two things: they’re stupendously heavy, with the hinge on the rear you can’t easily push them out from the driver’s seat. So, Rolls-Royce added electric push-button motors. That will impress a valet, for sure.

Speaking of the doors, they have 4,796 lights in them

Rolls-Royce calls them Starlight Doors. The doors, and ceiling, incorporate 4,796 tiny lights that mimic the night sky. They’re complimented by 5,500 stars on the passenger side of the dashboard and completely disappear when the car is off.  

The 2023 Rolls-Royce Spectre 18 feet long, and only seats four

This is a big car. It’s the successor to the Phantom Coupe, which also is huge. At 18 feet long, it’s somewhere between a Chevy Tahoe and a Chevy Suburban in length, and those SUVs can hold seven people and all of their luggage. This thing only holds four, but the back seat are a pair of heated, sculpted, deep buckets that will coddle your back-seat passengers. But what would you expect from a car named after a James Bond movie?

Four-wheel steering is standard

Since it’s 18 feet long, Rolls-Royce needed to do all it could to make this thing nimble. That means it has four-wheel steering standard. Even so, its turning circle of 42 feet is huge. For comparison, a Honda Fit compact car can turn in 17.5 feet. Yes, this thing is huge, and you’ll have to pre-plan parking lot maneuvers (or the valet will).

It will have (at least) 661 lb-ft of torque

Rolls-Royce is famous for historically not releasing power figures of its motors. For decades its line was, “the power is sufficient.” But, for the Spectre it says it will make at least 430 kW, or 661 lb-ft of torque. As truck guys know, torque is what actually moves you and lets you tow big heavy things (like a Spectre), and a Ford F-150 can tow 12,700 pounds with 570 lb-ft of torque. But, in an electric car, that torque is available instantly and the car can from 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds, according to Rolls. That’s massive considering the car weighs a massive 6,559 pounds.

It has a 320 mile range

The Rolls-Royce Spectre can go 320 miles, according to Rolls. That means you can go back and forth from L.A. to Beverly Hills 12 times before you have to top it off. That should do a lot to entice younger buyers into the Rolls brand. According to Wired, the average age of a Rolls driver is 42, that’s down from 56 just 10 years ago.