Luxury Reimagined : The Black Badge variant of the Spectre electric coupe has been launched by Rolls Royce. Traditionally, the “Black Badge” name has been used on more powerful variants of the luxury marque’s lineup, and the Spectre sort of applies. More powerful, obviously; but also lots more bling to prove that you shelled out the extra money for the fastest version.
The overseas launch price of the Spectre Black Badge stands at an eye watering 490,000 (Rs 4.26 crore), making it an expensive $67,250 (Rs 58.47 lakh) pricier than the standard variant of the said car. Sure, there are enough VW parts on the Black Badge, but here is all that makes it a Black Badge.
As per the usual, the Spectre Black badge gets the usual blacked out bits on the exterior, including smoked taillights. Exclusive to this model are wheels ranging up to 23 inches in diameter. There is also a new “Vapor Violet” colour available, which can be combined with an Iced Black bonnet. A “waft” coachline can also be optioned to grace the lower half of the body. We’ve also got an illuminated grille as standard.
As for the interior, the Black Badge gets the customary carbon fibre trim wrapped around the vehicle’s cabin along with metal and combination wood trims. The dashboard features 5,500 lights for the stars and an illuminated “infinity” symbol as well. Interior can of course be specced in any interior colour and any material you want and has instrument cluster themes to choose from now.
What’s In A Name? The Rolls Royce Spectre Black Badge
Let’s get down to the business of this vehicle. This being a Black Badge, though, it will obviously have more power but it still has the same 102 kWh battery pack. It now produces 659 bhp and 1,074 Nm of torque. That is 82 bhp and 173 Nm of torque greater than the standard Spectre. This luxury barge will hit 0-100 kmph in 4.1 seconds.
To release this additional speed, some new “Infinity” button is present on the steering wheels and to sustain all this speed, Rolls Royce has bestowed upon the Spectre different suspension tuning which means it won’t squat less under heavy acceleration and will also dip lesser under heavy braking. A “Spirited” mode is also present, which is essentially launch control.
The steering has been also tuned to be sportier and so has the anti-roll system that is now stiffer to reduce body roll. Naturally, with more power, range takes a bit of a hit as well and the Spectre Black Badge will do 430 kms on a single full charge with the 22-inch wheels but if you go for the 23-inch wheels, it takes yet another hit and will only manage 403 kms.