Eager for details about an invitation from Rolls-Royce to drive the new Black Badge Spectre across Barcelona, my barber quickly changes tune after hearing about the propulsion system of what they promise will be their swiftest model yet.
“It’s electric? Ah, come on!” he says as he sucks air through gritted teeth. “A Rolls-Royce needs a V12, they’ve lost the plot.”
Careful not to upset the man responsible for my haircut, my response is diplomatic.
“I know, Allan, they’ve used them for as long as I can remember. But the engine’s always been quiet, maybe electric might suit this sort of car?”
He’s not coming around to the idea – a good time to change the subject.
“Anyway, how’s the kids…?”
If you hold even a passing interest in the electrification of cars and the wobbly state of affairs surrounding EV market acceptance, there’s a decent chance you’re as worked-up as Allan.
But it’ll be a cold day in hell before I’m sent to Spain as a guest of the world’s most storied auto-maker, backed by a personalised itinerary and day-long testing route behind the wheel of a car saddled with such great expectation, simply to return and lecture you on the virtues or pitfalls of EV technology.
Describing most Rolls-Royce cars usually invokes a laundry-list of superlatives, I expect Black Badge Spectre to offer the same hallmarks of the “regular,” all-electric Spectre with the wick turned up just a little, in order to draw in a younger, more adventurous audience who are spending more money with Rolls-Royce than ever before.
While the company usually steers clear of the horsepower games, this car’s party-piece happens to be an extra 55kW and 175 Newton Metres over the standard version released in 2022, for an output of 485kW (659 hp) and prodigious 1075Nm of torque, accessible through what the company calls “Spirited Mode,” making the car good for a 0-100 launch of 4.1 seconds – cue nervous laughter from more than a few AMG drivers.
Will potential Black Badge customers be deterred by the company’s move to an electric drivetrain to power its “performance-oriented” models? Given buyers at this level are often motivated by the simple pleasure of owning the latest and greatest, and that a feature of Rolls-Royce for over a century has been a whisper-quiet ride, I’m skeptical.
There’s more to chew on in the dynamics department, though. Revised steering feel and changes to the car’s damping should reduce body-roll through hard cornering, but another question springs to mind. Will owners, who’d rather grab the keys to one of their track-focused devices for more “spirited” driving, ever care to test these claims?
My fresh haircut and I touch down in Barcelona where I’m greeted by a black four-wheel-drive Rolls-Royce Cullinan and driver, Will, before being chauffeured to the tastefully decorated Wittmore Hotel in the city’s Barri Gòtic, Gothic Quarter, for a first-look at the vehicle before my drive the following morning.
Morning comes, and a literal smorgasbord of box-fresh cars begging to be driven is causing a scene at the Marina Port Vell. Boys crane their necks over the barrier separating them from no less than eight Black Badge Spectres facing the super-yachts moored just metres away.
Changes to Black Badge Spectre over the regular car aren’t just mechanical. An outward expression of bolder design is obvious to keen onlookers, who can spot this particular Black Badge through its illuminated Pantheon grille, new wheel design and black styling cues across both exterior and interior trim elements for a “darker” aesthetic. Black exterior trim on anything other than a black car isn’t really my jug of sangria, but the overall look remains cohesive and doesn’t detract from what is plainly a very handsome, if hugely imposing aesthetic. The team coolly invites me to pick a colour I fancy and drive away – fever-dream stuff.
My route pushes out from the city centre towards lunch at a boutique studio via a winding road hugging the coastline, inland for a break at a mansion-slash-winery, and finally, provided I haven’t overdone it on the earlier hospitality, a performance test at ParcMotor Circuit.
Some hesitation cost me the chance to snap up one of the two models in the car’s striking launch colour, Vapour Violet, so I slide into a Jubilee Silver model lashed with sumptuous purple leather. If you’ve ever found yourself on the inside of a Rolls made in the last few years you’ll feel right at home. It’s opulent, spacious even for rear passengers despite the need for a slightly inelegant entry, while the absence of tacky design elements screaming “I’m an EV” is refreshing and pleasing.
I depress the brake pedal to close the door only to be greeted by the sound of… nothing. People are chatting, laughing, taking pictures, I can see them doing it, but the 700 kilos of sound-deadening makes my view out the windows feel like a TV show with the sound off.
Peeling away in this million-dollar sensory-deprivation tank is a breeze. The steering is just about light enough to be managed with a single finger, while the compliance over surface imperfections shows off Rolls-Royce’s famous “waft-ability.” Despite the 23-inch wheels and edgier intentions of the car’s “Black Badge” designation, the ride quality leaves that of other luxury manufacturers in the dust.
This “class-leading” business extends to the Bespoke Audio system, by far the best aural experience on wheels. Sound seems to arrive “quickly” and the level of separation between instruments and elements of tracks is almost uncanny. I’m pretty sure I heard a stray finger lazily brush against the single string of an acoustic guitar.
It’s on a winding mountain pass en-route to the stylish Studio Sitges for a photoshoot and some of Barcelona’s best Iberian ham, when the big issue with this vehicle rears its head.
Black Badge Spectre is gigantic – wide as you like with an expansive bonnet while measuring a foot longer than most range-topping four-door limos. Stunning scenery passes by, but I’m too focused on surviving this narrow, winding stretch of road to enjoy much of it.
With this in mind and a plate of freshly sliced Jamón ibérico now safely in hand, I ponder the actual use-case for this car back home.
Is it good for a cheeky cafe run? You’ll need two spaces right out front. A daily driver to that 45th floor corner-office? Not if that pesky spiral car-park has anything to say about it. A trip to the holiday house with luggage for four? The Cullinan’s already packed and ready to go.
Given the average Spectre driver somehow manages to cover over 6,000 kilometres a year, there’s at least an even chance I’m being dramatic.
The drama continues as the convoy reaches ParcMotor Circuit, snaking past a group of astonished boy-racers. An invitation to drive all 2.9 tonnes of this car like I stole it suggests supreme confidence from the team in their product.
I come to a halt at the start of the track, select Spirited Mode, depress both brake and accelerator, before finally releasing the brake for takeoff, and I mean takeoff. The Earth’s rotation slows as all 1,075 Newton Metres are deployed into the tarmac, while the car pulls harder, but in a similar fashion to an aircraft at full power. The synthetic sounds that emerge and evolve under heavy acceleration don’t simulate an electric motor like other EVs – it’s atmospheric, sci-fi and orchestral, building to a stunning crescendo at what must be around 190 kilometres an hour. This fast in a Rolls, on a track? It feels criminal.
I stand on the brakes and they arrest the car’s momentum without issue, soon heading towards a fast right-hander I’m ready for the car to wash wide with understeer and body-roll, but it doesn’t. Aside from some protest from the tyres, it stays flat and composed – black magic is happening within the engineering department at Rolls-Royce.
The company’s decision to invite me here, bold as it is, isn’t to pitch Black Badge Spectre as a track toy, rather a seriously potent ultra-luxury cruiser able to handle “spirited” driving, should their owner call upon it. By this metric, the car passes with flying colours.
After returning the keys and boarding a flight bound for the “House of Rolls-Royce,” I’m left knowing Black Badge Spectre might just be the most capable and over-the-top car ever made.
It’s a niche tool that will sometimes rub up against the realities of modern city driving, but in the world of the Rolls-Royce customer, where a Black Badge Spectre will be just one of at least seven cars at their disposal, I’m sure the time and place to get behind the wheel of this exceedingly special vehicle will present itself.
If I’m ever fortunate enough to be asked about the bespoke design I’d like laser-etched into the dashboard of my Black Badge Spectre, it’ll probably be a quote from actress, Mae West:
“Too much of a good thing can be absolutely wonderful.”
The author travelled to Spain and the United Kingdom as a guest of Rolls-Royce.
