Rolls-Royce Spectre updated with more range, more power and more personalisation

Rolls-Royce has announced a series of updates to its first all-electric model with the launch of the Spectre Series II.

While externally the luxury grand tourer remains virtually unchanged, there are changes inside and under the surface designed to enhance the Spectre and its Black Badge alter-ego.

Central to the Spectre Series II are adjustments to its powertrain bringing more grunt and longer range. The standard car’s twin-motor setup has been reworked by Goodwood’s engineers to take output from an already respectable 577bhp to 593bhp and raised torque to 749lb ft.

The Black Badge Spectre Series II, meanwhile takes this further and becomes the most powerful Rolls-Royce to date. In its high-performance Infinity Mode, the Black Badge now packs 670bhp – a 20bhp lift on the outgoing model – and with the “Spirited” launch control activated can call upon 811lb ft of torque. Rolls-Royce hasn’t said what this does for the Spectre’s performance but we’d expect a small improvement on the current 0-62mph time of 4.1 seconds.

There’s no change to the Spectre’s battery capacity but the entire pack has been reworked with new cell technology. This has unlocked a 19% increase in range, allowing the Spectre Series II to cover up to 390 miles on a single change. Charging times have also been cut by 14%.

The Spectre has quickly become the marque’s second most personalised model behind the Phantom, so in recognition of the high “bespoke” demand, Rolls-Royce has rolled out a wider range of interior choices for colours, materials and details.

Among the choices is a new walnut veneer created from non-fruiting trees which would usually be burned. This incorporates eucalyptus fibres from paper making to create a tiger-stripe pattern which is then lacquered with powered glass flakes for a subtle sheen.

The clock gallery features a newly designed timepiece sitting above a miniature Spirit of Ecstasy, and the interior panel and clock housing now stretch the width of the fascia. The illuminated fascia has also been updated with a new horizontal pattern made up of more than 8,000 individual pinpricks of light.

A new Duality Twill fabric made from bamboo fibres has been added to the Spectre for the first time and features an abstract embroidered graphic based on the famous RR logo. Alternatively, the traditional leather upholstery can be specified with “placed perforation” which uses thousands of different sized holes to create intricate patterns across the seat shoulders and armrests.

The only external updates for the “standard” Spectre Series II are the addition of a new “Eternal Blue” paint and a new 23-inch alloy wheel design. The Black Badge meanwhile gets a new Iced Black finish to almost all its brightwork. It also gets a more aggressive open-spoke 23-inch alloy which can be finished with a subtle sparkle – created using embedded glass flakes – or the stealthy Iced Matte Black.

Orders for the Rolls-Royce Spectre Series II are open now and while there’s no exact pricing, don’t expect to spend less than £350,000 if you fancy one.