- Rolls Royce's debut electric vehicle has up to 659hp for short bursts
- Chassis, steering and suspension have been revised for greater control
- 'Vapour Violet' color inspired by neon lights of 1980s club culture
If there was ever a combustion engined car that was primed for a switch to electrification, it would be a Rolls-Royce. Large, wafting and near-silent when sealed inside the cocooned cabin, the brand has found the EV transition easier than others.
Plus, with an increasingly younger audience, buoyed by sales in China and elsewhere, the British marque has been able to play on its image, with Black Badge products representing a more aggressive, street-savvy approach to traditional luxury – as if the brand entered The Upside Down with Skepta chilling in the rear.
It only seems natural, then, that Rolls-Royce has applied this thinking to the Black Badge Spectre Black Badge, its first fully-electric model. The sub-brand has proved surprisingly popular among buyers, with the company stating that the standard Spectre was “the most requested Rolls-Royce model in Europe last year”, according to Inside EVs.
Spectre Black Badge takes things up a notch, with an Illuminated Pantheon Grille, a new Vapour Violet colour inspired by the neon lights of 1980s and 1990s club culture and Illuminated Black Badge Treadplates.
Chrome has been ditched in favor of darker hues, with a painted Ice Black bonnet available for those that want to stand out further. The new 23-inch five-spoke forged aluminum wheel design can be optioned in black, while a carbon weave technical finish to the interior completes the look.
Perhaps more importantly, the company has seen fit to boost power output to 485 kW (659 hp) when drivers press a new infinity button on the steering wheel.
The chassis, steering and suspension damping has also been reworked to help improve vehicle dynamics, increasing body control and reducing ‘squatting’ under acceleration or deceleration.
A good thing too, because there’s also a play on launch control, dubbed Spirited Mode, which propels the car from 0-60mph in just 4.1 seconds (down from the 4.4 seconds of the standard Spectre), thanks to a burst of 1075 Nm that’s temporarily made available.
In true fireside-chat style, British marque claims the new bursts of extreme power are a tribute to Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, found in the Supermarine Spitfire, which would allow pilots to obtain a burst of additional power by pushing a switch on the throttle quadrant. Tally ho!
Naturally, there is no word on price, as is the way with all Rolls-Royce models, but the company believes the Black Badge edition will prove popular.
It claims that early client demand prompted creation of a clandestine fleet of Black Badge Spectres, so it felt right to now offer it in a more official manner.
Analysis: EVs usher in a new era of luxury
Rolls-Royce remains tight-lipped about sales figures, opting to preserve the anonymity of its ultra-wealthy client base. That said, it appears that the company is finding the transition towards electrification much easier than many other automakers that operate in the luxury market.
Having the backing and knowhow of the BMW Group has clearly helped, which has offered up a white label version of its iDrive infotainment system (among other things) to propel the marque’s digital offering into the 21st Century.
Seemingly, because most Rolls-Royce owners don’t have to worry about dealing with charging cables, the Spectre’s relatively meagre 195kW max charge speed of the massive 120kWh battery doesn’t appear to be an issue either. The likelihood is, they have someone else deal with that sort of thing.
While the combustion engine under the bonnet of a Rolls-Royce has always been an engineering marvel, it hasn’t necessarily come to define the vehicles, which have become renowned for one of the most wafting, luxurious rides of anything on sale.
Adding electric motors and an ultra-large battery pack has only added to that feeling of opulence when kicking back in the exquisitely furnished rear seats – or when opting to drive.
Plus, with a younger, more eco-conscious customer demographic, the appeal of a less polluting and more forward-thinking Rolls-Royce appears to be paying off.
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