New to the all-electric Spectre is the Black Badge, a sub-brand that takes everything Rolls-Royce stands for and dials it up.Mark Hacking/The Globe and Mail
In the year 1900, Charles Rolls was asked by The Motor-Car Journal about the prospect of electric vehicles. His reply was prophetic: “The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean … but I do not anticipate they will be very serviceable – at least for many years to come.”
More than 125 years later, the company he co-founded has finally proven him right. Charging stations are now (relatively) plentiful and the 2025 Rolls-Royce Black Badge Spectre has arrived to prove the electric car can be serviceable indeed, even transformative in some cases.
This model is significant for two main reasons: The “standard” model was introduced in 2023, becoming the first all-electric Rolls-Royce in the fleet. It’s the first of many, according to company leaders, who have committed to a fully electric line-up for 2030.
It’s early days yet, but the Spectre has found some success. According to BMW Group data, there were 1,890 examples delivered around the world in 2024, the first full year of sales. That figure represents almost one-third of global sales for Rolls-Royce; in other words, a decent slice of the pie for a niche vehicle from a niche brand. (Total sales for Canada and sales of the Spectre have not been made publicly available.)
Reason No. 2 is this particular model is the latest member of the Black Badge family, the sub-brand that takes everything Rolls-Royce stands for and dials it up: more power, more torque, more attitude.
In this case, that translates into 659 horsepower and 792 lb-ft of torque, channelled through dual electric motors at the front and rear axles. It also makes the Spectre the most powerful production Rolls-Royce ever built.
The Black Badge Spectre has 659 horsepower and 792 lb-ft of torque making it the most powerful production Rolls-Royce ever built.Mark Hacking/The Globe and Mail
An ’impossibly smooth’ and quality ride
Our drive begins on the congested streets of Barcelona, where the car’s sheer bulk is a constant presence. At nearly 3,000 kilograms, the Spectre is not a machine designed for tight medieval lanes. But once clear of the city, the big coupé stretches its legs.
The ride quality is as expected: impossibly smooth, barely attached to the surface of the road. Yet, the car can also surge forward with impossible ease; Spirited Mode, the on-board launch-control system, transforms the Spectre into a silent projectile, sprinting to 100 kilometres an hour in just over four seconds.
That combination of size, silence and speed is unlike anything else on the road. Other performance EVs are, for sure quick, at times even violent in their acceleration. The Spectre, by contrast, is calm and collected, the mechanical embodiment of composed velocity. This is performance without histrionics, drama rendered unnecessary.
The front seats and dash of the Rolls-Royce Black Badge Spectre.Mark Hacking/The Globe and Mail
Inside a ‘transformative” reminder of luxury
Inside, the Rolls-Royce hallmarks are all present, elevated by the hush of electrification.
Doors that weigh a tonne, yet close with a fingertip. Buttons that clicks with the authority of fine watchmaking. Carpets that seem deep enough to lose a shoe in. For owners, the appeal lies as much in these tactile sensations as in the performance. Simply sitting in the car is transformative, a reminder that luxury is often defined by weight, silence and permanence.
The Black Badge designation adds its own flourishes: darkened grille, shadow-finished badging, black trim elements. But these are merely the foundation for the infinite customization that defines every Rolls-Royce.
Every car a canvas for its owner
At the Barcelona event, the cars lined up for evaluation were a kaleidoscope of colours and materials, no two even remotely the same. Every Spectre is a canvas, awaiting the brushstrokes of its owner.
Starting at somewhere around $730,000, it’s abundantly clear this Spectre is not intended to democratize luxury motoring. Nor is it meant to replace the V12-powered Phantom or Cullinan – at least not for a few years. Instead, it introduces a new dimension to a storied brand: the quiet confidence of an all-electric future.
For buyers who already view cars as expressions of identity, the Spectre signals membership in an exclusive club at the bleeding edge of luxury. In many ways, it’s the perfect car for this crowd, a target demographic that possesses multiple vehicles at any one time. It’s powerful, it’s exclusive and it’s never going to be relied upon for any strenuous driving duties.
When Charles Rolls spoke in 1900, he could not have envisioned the modern EV, let alone one of this size, presence and refinement. Yet his words about silence and cleanliness resonate here, embodied in metal, leather and electrons: With the Rolls-Royce Black Badge Spectre, the future has arrived, accompanied by hushed tones.
The writer was a guest of the automaker. Content was not subject to approval.
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