As you may know, the Rolls-Royces are for low-key flaunting your wealth. In other words, elegantly cruising down the road with no pops, bangs and burbles, despite having over 500 horses on reserve. As such, the brand is more suited for those over 50. But what if you’re a relatively younger millionaire/billionaire? Well, that’s where the ‘Black Badge‘ variants slot into. The latest one to receive this honour is the all-electric Spectre.
Visually, the Spectre Black Badge distinguishes itself from the regular Spectre by replacing the chromy bits (known as mirror-polished brightwork) with dark-finished counterparts. This includes the marque’s Pantheon Grille surround, the Spirit of Ecstasy, the double ‘R’ badge, the door handles, the side window surround, and of course, bumper accents. The Spectre Black Badge also introduces a new 23-inch five-spoke forged aluminium wheel design, available in a part-polished or all-black finish. Also making its debut is a new Vapour Violet paint finish, a deep black-violet colour—inspired by the neon ambience of the 1980s and 1990s club culture. An Iced Black contrasting bonnet paint is also available. But of course, the clients have the freedom of choosing from the marque’s palette of 44,000 ‘prêt-à-porter’ colours, or, create something totally bespoke.
The dark theme continues on to the inside of the Spectre Black Badge. This particular example features a black-pale-maroonish upholstery, in combination with a Piano Black starry headliner. The Black Badge has its own logo, the Black Badge Infinity symbol, stitched into the leather ‘Waterfall’ section that separates the rear seats.
The dashboard features what is billed as a complex Technical Fibre surface finish. This diamond-shaped weave uses carbon and fine metal thread on top of a black Bolivar wood base. The thread is laid by hand in a diamond pattern between layers of carbon fibre, creating a three-dimensional effect. Once cured, each interior piece is sandblasted, sealed with six layers of lacquer, and hand-polished to a flawless finish.
The Spectre Black Badge’s instrument cluster offers 5 themes to play with: Vivid Grellow, Neon Nights, Cyan Fire, Ultraviolet and Synth Wave.
Moving on to the juicy bits of the story, the Spectre Black Badge retains the original Spectre’s dual-motor AWD configuration. In this application, the power and torque figures are 485 kW (659 metric hp) and 1,075 Nm (793 lb-ft), respectively, making the Spectre Black Badge the most powerful Rolls-Royce in the history of Rolls-Royce. However, do note that the aforementioned torque is available only as a temporary boost, in the ‘Spirited Mode’. As for the power output, all of those 659 horses will be available only if you press the Infinity ∞ button on the steering wheel. In regular use, the output figures most likely default to 430 kW (585 metric hp) and 900 Nm (664 lb-ft). WLTP estimated range is between 493 and 530 km (306-329 mi).
