Rolls-Royce has updated the Spectre, its sole coupe and EV offering, but there’s almost new nothing for car spotters to feast their eyes on.
The key changes with revised ‘Series II’ Spectre takes place under the skin, where the all-wheel drive system has a 190kW/365Nm motor up front, and a 360kW/650Nm motor on the rear axle.
In standard trim the driver is able to access 442kW and 1015Nm, up from the 430kW and 900Nm available in the pre-update model. Opting for the Black Badge variant allows the driver turn on Infinity Mode that puts 500kW (up from 485kW) under the right foot, while Spirited Mode has access to 1100Nm (up from 1075Nm).
Despite these changes, the standard model still requires 4.5 seconds to hit 100km/h from standstill, while the Black Badge needs 4.3s to hit the century mark.
This might be down to the battery pack, which has grown from 102kWh to 112kWh (net). The larger capacity combined with new battery cell technology has pushed maximum range up to 629km under the WLTP standard, an improvement of between 100 and 110km depending on the model.
There are no exterior styling changes to speak of, but there is a new solid Ethereal Blue paint option (pictured throughout). There’s also a new 23-inch forged alloy wheel design with a highly faceted surface, which takes around six hours to hand finish. This new wheel is available in either polished or partially polished forms.
Although the design of the cabin remains unchanged, there’s a restyled clock inspired by aviation instruments and an array of new trim options.
These include the Duality Twill bamboo-derived rayon fabric in lilac, chocolate, black or sage, as well as 50 colour choices for the embroidered elements. At its most intricate, the Spectre’s Duality Twill interior contains up to 2.6 million stitches and 16km of thread, and takes up to 25 hours to make.
Also fresh on the options list is Placed Perforation leather, where up to 78,138 tiny holes are placed into the shoulder and headrests of the seats to create images of “shifting silhouettes cast by clouds in moonlight”. This type of leather can also be had on the door cards to allow backlighting to spill through.
For Black Badge cars there’s a new “iced black” matte finish for door handles, grille surround, Spirit of Ecstasy figurine, trim inserts, and wheels. The slats of the imposing waterfall grille retain a metallic finish in order to “preserve the motor car’s identity”.
A new wheel design has more open space between the spokes in order to show off the braking hardware.
Last year Spectre sales fell 47.0 per cent from 1890 to 1002, but it managed to keep second place in the Rolls-Royce sales chart, just ahead of the Ghost (993, up 22.9 per cent), but well behind the Cullinan (3291, up 27.1 per cent).