Black Badge Spectre Is Here Because Regular Rolls-Royces Are Just Too Tame
Image Credit: ROLLS-ROYCE.
Rolls-Royce has gone and done something rather… interesting. They've taken their electric Spectre, a car already so quiet you could hear a butterfly sneeze in the next county, and decided it needed a bit more… oomph. They've slapped a "Black Badge" on it, which, as far as I can tell, means it's slightly darker and a tad quicker. Because the regular one just wasn't quite menacing enough.
The Spectre Black Badge… it's a bit of a conundrum. They're boasting about it being the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever created, which is like saying it's the loudest whisper in a library. It's still a Rolls-Royce, after all. It's like a Bentley trying to be a Lamborghini.
They've fiddled with the electric motors, apparently, and now it churns out a monstrous 650 horsepower. That's enough to tow a small planet, probably. Torque? A frankly ludicrous 793 lb-ft. I'm not even sure what that feels like, but I imagine it's akin to being gently nudged by a rogue tectonic plate. The problem is, you can't seem to access all that power and torque at the same time. It's like they've installed a "fun" switch, where you can choose between "really fast" and "slightly more really fast."
The new "Infinity Mode," which sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, is where you press a button, and all 650 horses are unleashed. Presumably, this is for when you need to, say, overtake a particularly slow-moving asteroid. Then there's "Spirited Mode." Which is basically launch control for people who wear driving gloves made of unicorn hide. You floor the brake and the accelerator, the car does a little wiggle, and then… BAM! You're off to the races. Or, you know, the grocery store. Zero to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds. Which is quick, but not exactly warp speed. My old lawnmower could probably do that downhill with a tailwind. Just kidding.
The Rolls-Royce hasn't exactly been forthcoming with the battery details, but I'd wager it's the same unit we find in the "civilian" Spectre, with enough to power a small town for a week. Range? Around 277 miles. Which is fine, I suppose, unless you're planning on driving to the moon.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Rolls-Royce without a few cosmetic tweaks. It's got bigger wheels, 23 inches, which look like they've been borrowed from a monster truck. Everything that was once shiny is now… less shiny. Darker, more menacing. They've even given the Spirit of Ecstasy a bit of a goth makeover.
Inside, it's the usual Rolls-Royce affair. Leather, wood, and enough ambient lighting to make a disco jealous. They've added some new colors for the dials, which is exciting, I suppose. And there's this "Technical Fiber" trim, which sounds like something NASA cooked up in a lab, but is just fancy carbon fiber with a bit of glitter sprinkled on it.
So, the Rolls-Royce Spectre Black Badge. It's electric, it's powerful, it's… different. It's a bit like ordering a double espresso and then asking for extra sugar. It's not quite sure what it wants to be. Is it a sports car? Is it a luxury barge? Is it a spaceship? I suspect it's a bit of all three, and none of them at the same time. But it's certainly a statement. A very expensive, very quiet, and very slightly faster statement. And I like it a lot more than I'd like to admit.
