Rolls-Royce gives the electric Spectre a high-performance upgrade

Development of the new Rolls-Royce Black Badge Spectre began with a clandestine agreement between the carmaker and its customers.

Long before today's public reveal, a fleet of undercover cars was secretly delivered to some of Rolls-Royce’s most loyal clients, who then had a chance to appraise the new EV before its official launch.

And even before that, Rolls-Royce had gathered and analysed driving data from some of its customers. With the owners’ permission, R-R drivetrain engineers dug into the data to unearth how its customers drove their cars. Spanning hundreds of thousands of miles, the data revealed how Rolls-Royce drivers “exploited maximum power in short pulses more than over extended periods.”

This justified Rolls-Royce’s belief that its electric Spectre could be given a chunk of extra power without it alienating the client base. The result is the Black Badge Spectre, the most powerful car Rolls-Royce has ever made.

To infinity…and beyond!

It is also the first Rolls-Royce to have launch control, although the company prefers to call it Spirited Mode – a playful nod at its Spirit of Ecstasy mascot. With this enabled – by coming to a stop and fully pressing both the brake and accelerator, before releasing the former – the Black Badge Spectre summons 1,075 Nm of torque.

Deployed by the Spectre’s dual-motor drivetrain to all four wheels, this launches the car to 62 mph in 4.1 seconds, beating the standard Spectre by four-tenths. Driven more sedately, RR says the Black Badge Spectre has a WLTP range of between 306 and 329 miles, and an efficiency of up to 2.8 miles per kWh. The battery capacity and maximum charge rate are believed to be unchanged, at 107 kWh and 195 kW respectively.

Also new for the Black Badge Spectre is Infinity Mode. This is accessed by pressing a button on the steering wheel and unlocks the car’s maximum output of 485 kW (659 horsepower), an increase of 82 hp on the regular Spectre. The carmaker says the Infinity button was inspired by a switch fitted to the throttle quadrant of military aircraft powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, like the Spitfire, where it would temporarily summon extra boost pressure to increase power.

With Infinity mode activated, the Spectre’s digital dials take on a more vibrant design.

Along with extra power and torque, Rolls-Royce has tweaked the Spectre's chassis too. These changes include increased steering weight, and an adjustment to the roll stabilisation that creates more steering feedback and reduces body roll through corners. Further changes include enhanced dampers with increased body control and a reduction in squatting and diving during acceleration and braking. Rolls-Royce says the changes will “inspire clients to wield the unprecedented power of the Black Badge Spectre with confidence,” while maintaining the brand’s signature magic-carpet ride quality.

As with other models from the Black Badge range, the new Spectre has gained a set of darkened design details. These include options like a bonnet painted a colour called Iced Black, a set of all-black 23-inch, five-spoke forged aluminium wheels, and exterior brightwork that swaps out chrome for a dark glossy finish. This is seen on the front grille, Spirit of Ecstasy and Rolls-Royce ‘RR’ badges, plus the door handles, window surrounds and bumper accents.

Inspired by 1990s club culture

The car shown in Rolls-Royce’s marketing images features all of these details, and is painted a new colour called Vapour Violet. The company describes this hue as a “deep black-violet inspired by the neon ambience of 1980s and 1990s club culture” and says this is a “celebrated reference among many Black Badge clients.”

Another nr detail unique to the Black Badge Spectre is an illuminated backplate behind the front grille. This is offered with colour options of Tailored Purple, Charles Blue, Chartreuse, Forge Yellow and Turchese, and is intended to let buyers show a sample of the interior colour of the outside of the car. Or, the colour could complement a coach line or other external detail, RR suggests. It can also be joined by a set of new illuminated tread plates, which are offered in ten different colours.

Inside, the car gets a unique illuminated fascia on the passenger side of the dashboard, which features over 5,500 fibre optic ‘stars’ set into a piano black panel acting as the night sky. The new model can be equipped with Rolls-Royce’s famous Starlight headlining, and as with the standard Spectre this is now expanded to include the doors and the outside edges of the rear passenger compartment.

The cabin also features the same Technical Fibre surface finish as seen in other members of the Black Badge family, and which combines carbon with hand-laid fine metal thread and black Bolivar wood. Lastly, the interface of the new Spectre’s driver display has the colour theme options of Vivid Grellow, Neon Nights, Cyan Fire, Ultraviolet and Synth Wave. Perhaps that last one is the 90’s club Rolls had in mind when designing the Black Badge Spectre.

Rolls-Royce hasn’t announced a price, but it’s safe to say the Black Badge will sit above the standard car’s £330,000 – and, of course, if you add some personalisation that figure will soon start with a four.

That's a lot of money in anyone's books, but Rolls-Royce says its customers really do get the most out of their Spectres. It says owners drive their car, on average, about 4,000 miles per year, and that generally the Spectre is a customer's second Rolls-Royce, with five other cars sharing the garage. Rolls-Royce says how one Spectre owner in Dubai covered 8,000 miles in a year, and a client in Slovakia clocked up 6,000 miles in just six months, thanks to their 250-mile commute.