The Black Badge Spectre shows why the future of Rolls-Royce is electric

Silent but spectacular, the Rolls-Royce Black Badge Spectre is the brand’s first electric super coupé – and also its most powerful. Simon de Burton finds that this bold step into the future still delivers everything you’d expect from the marque, and then some.

Food is a feature of most car launches, usually taking the form of a convivial dinner the night before the first drive or a mid-route lunch stop to break up the journey.

But since a Rolls-Royce is nothing like most cars, the maiden voyage behind the wheel of its latest creation involves a journey with a culinary destination like no other: the double Michelin-starred Ynyshir in Eglwys Fach in North Wales. Chef and proprietor Gareth Ward creates tiny, mouth-watering dishes for Ynyshir’s 39-course tasting menu that have prompted 10-star reviews from some of the world’s top critics.

On the face of it, Ynyshir might have been chosen as a dinner venue and overnight stop to demonstrate Rolls-Royce’s effortless superiority. In reality, it was selected for the event because, with its blackened exterior, dark-painted rooms and a house DJ who plays LPs throughout the meal at a volume rendering normal conversation a little tricky, it is subversive – and subversive is how Rolls-Royce wanted people to perceive its Black Badge line when it was introduced in 2016.

Designed to appeal to the firm’s ever more youthful customer base, Black Badge is intended to bring a dark and moody personality to the models it’s applied to, all of which have blackened mascots, exterior trim and radiator grilles, a more aggressive look and heightened performance.

The Spectre is the latest to get the treatment, and never has it seemed more at home than on this all-electric model launched towards the end of 2023 in “standard” form. In Black Badge guise,  the Spectre becomes the most powerful Rolls-Royce motor car ever built, its two electric motors (one on each axle) producing a day-to-day 577 horsepower – the same as the standard Spectre – but rising to 650 horsepower at the push of a steering wheel-mounted “Infiniti” button.

The sense of occasion for which Rolls-Royce is famous begins even before you step inside. Not only does the Black Badge Spectre have sublime lines that render it both elegant and aggressively sporting, its rear-hinged coach doors open to reveal a spectacularly well-appointed interior.

Settling into the driving seat feels akin to using one of those Parker Knoll reclining armchairs – only it becomes rather more interesting when the prospect dawns that this is the place from which this absolute giant will need to be manoeuvred through traffic jams and country lanes.

Apprehension subsides once the occupants are hermetically sealed from the outside world, the car is switched on (while remaining silent) and drive is engaged through the traditional Rolls-Royce method of a steering wheel mounted stalk.

Gentle pressure on the accelerator sets the Black Badge Spectre in elegant motion and – with a minimal number of switches and controls to think about, deliciously light steering and the general feeling of calm that the car induces – size no longer seems to matter.

If going forwards in the nearly five-and-a-half-metre-long Spectre feels less stressful than driving a family hatchback, slowing it down is equally effortless; with the drive mode set to “B”, the intuitive regenerative system does the braking for you, bringing the car to a gently controlled stop.

But what makes this car truly stand out is the way it combines equally extreme luxury and performance. It has become a truism that electric cars are quick off the mark, but the Black Badge Spectre seems absurdly rapid, especially for a three-tonne behemoth – and even more so when Spirited mode is invoked by simultaneously pressing the brake pedal and flooring the accelerator, before releasing the former and waiting for 3.5 seconds to see the digital speedometer soar to the 100km/h mark and beyond.

But such crude demonstrations of performance are far from what most of us think of when we hear “Rolls-Royce”, a name synonymous with immense presence, cosseting comfort and, above all, silence. If a petrol-powered Rolls is famous for wafting, the electric Spectre positively floats down the road with a lack of noise that is nothing short of eerie.

While it is silent in motion, however, my Black Badge Spectre is decidedly loud in appearance: its Salamanca Blue paintwork is vibrant to say the least, while its Mandarin hide interior with navy trim was positively eye-searing. The combination was purposely created for the test car to show that, when it comes to specifying your Rolls-Royce, almost anything goes. Iguazu Blue, Bohemian Red and Jubilee Silver are among the standard colours. 

Or, for extra money, you can have Valdivia Lime, Twilight Purple or Chartreuse from the Commission Collection of a reported 44,000 hues. Want to spend some more? Go bespoke like American mattress magnate Michael Fux, for whom Rolls-Royce has created cars finished in exclusive hues such as Fux Intense Jade Pearl and Fux Fuxia – none of which are permitted to be replicated for anyone else.

But even if you order a Black Badge Spectre with no extras (which would likely be a first) you’ll still get its unique grille back plate that lights up in a choice of five colours, illuminated sill plates and 5,500 fibre optic stars on the passenger-side dash to complement the car’s starlight headlining that occupants can gaze up at and wonder if they’ve gone to heaven. That could seem like a distinct possibility when you’re experiencing the magic carpet ride of what I can’t help thinking might just be the best car in the world… rolls-roycemotorcars.com

First published in the July 2025 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.