In my view, two car companies sit above all the others: Ferrari and Rolls-Royce. One makes the ultimate sports cars, the other the ultimate luxury cars. Other manufacturers might think they have something to rival them, but I don’t think anything gets particularly close. By and large, both have also been very good at sticking to what they do best and never stepping on each other’s toes.
Spend time in a Rolls-Royce and you soon understand that position. I drove the Spectre through some of the wealthiest parts of South Buckinghamshire, where an expensive car is hardly an unusual sight. Even there, it felt exceptionally rare. I found myself wondering whether another Rolls-Royce had passed through those towns and villages that day, or even that week – that’s the sort of exclusivity we’re talking about.
The Spectre has been something of a surprise hit for Rolls-Royce, although the combination does make perfect sense. Electric power brings the silence, effortless shove and lovely waftiness that you expect from a Rolls-Royce. The familiar Power in Reserve display, rather than an unseemly rev counter, seems especially at home here – you’re reminded of what’s still available, which is rather more in keeping with the car’s character.
First introduced in 2022, the Spectre remained Rolls-Royce’s second best-selling model globally in 2025. Series II brings more power, revised battery-cell technology and a maximum claimed range of 390 miles, together with more ways to personalise the car. The fastback shape, clean bodywork and split headlights remain, while a new solid paint colour called Ethereal Blue joins the choices.
There’s a more elaborate new finish, too. Gradient Two-Tone paint changes colour from one end of the car to the other, instead of dividing the colours horizontally. It took more than six months to develop and can take four days to apply, with four colour combinations over a black base. New forged alloy wheels, measuring 584mm in diameter, have crisp, faceted surfaces with 2.5mm radii. Each can take six hours to finish by hand, with part-polished or fully polished finishes available.
My car was rather more restrained, but no less beautiful in Mustique Blue and Silver. The view down that long bonnet was glorious, while the quality of the exterior finish out of the Goodwood factory was sensational. It was a very tasteful reminder that personalisation doesn’t have to mean going completely overboard.
How we tested
I spent 48 hours with the Spectre Series II around Buckinghamshire, covering roads from my home in South Bucks all the way up to Milton Keynes. That meant everything from the M1 and M25 to town roads, suburban streets and country lanes, where the Rolls can feel very wide. I also carried out the usual Fowler car park test, although a nice pub stood in for the supermarket this time. I even took the dog for a ride, with seat coverings firmly in place, obviously.
The weather was about as far from the Côte d’Azur as you could imagine. It was filthy, and I felt a little guilty taking such a lovely car out in it, but the Spectre kept me thoroughly cosseted and didn’t once complain. Along the way I tried the controls and Rolls-Royce’s own audio system, had a six-foot-plus friend try the rear seats and stopped at an Ionity rapid charger, where the highest charging rate I saw was 162kW.
Rolls-Royce Spectre Series II: from £280,000, Rolls-roycemotorcars.com
Independent rating: 9/10
- Pros: Wonderful sense of occasion, quiet, effortless performance, sumptuous interior and beautiful craftsmanship
- Cons: Occasional firmness over town roads, technology could have moved further forward, size and huge doors need care in tight spaces
Rolls-Royce Spectre Series II specifications:
- Price: from £280,000
- Battery size: 112.4kWh
- Maximum claimed range: 390 miles
- Charging: 195kW DC, 10 to 80 per cent in 28 minutes
Battery, range, charging, performance and drive
The Spectre Series II has a 112.4kWh battery and two electric motors, with a combined 593bhp and 1,015Nm of torque. That’s 115Nm more than the original Spectre, although the way the power arrives is much more interesting than the number itself. Acceleration is wonderfully measured: a more gentle, smooth, linear shove rather than a sudden kick. There was never any shortage of it on the roads I drove on, either – put your foot down and it just keeps coming.
Rolls-Royce quotes 0–62mph in 4.5 seconds, or 0–60mph in 4.4 seconds, with a top speed of 155mph. Those are brisk figures for a car weighing 2,925kg, but the Spectre encourages a far gentler manner of motoring. The big steering wheel and the steering itself aren’t especially reactive; you soon settle into the car’s relaxed rhythm, and I found it surprisingly simple to drive. It’s a big thing to pilot, certainly, but it isn’t unwieldy.
The more powerful Black Badge Series II produces up to 671bhp in Infinity Mode, with Spirited Mode (what a wonderful name) allowing up to 1,100Nm. Its quoted 0–62mph time is 4.3 seconds, or 4.1 seconds to 60mph.
For most of the time, the ride delivers exactly the sort of gliding progress you’d hope for. Waftiness, if that’s a word, is in plentiful supply. There is another side to it, though – around town I was occasionally surprised by a firmer response, and a pothole could send a shimmy through the car.
It’s eerily quiet, although it isn’t completely silent. I remember Rolls-Royce engineers explaining to me that they could make a car completely quiet but deliberately allowed some sound in to help avoid travel sickness and let the driver know a little about what was happening outside, including the weather. The Spectre certainly leaves you well insulated from the worst of it, whilene-pedal driving fits its gentle character beautifully, too.
Rolls-Royce says revised battery-cell technology increases range by up to 18 per cent and cuts charging times by up to 14 per cent. The standard Series II’s claimed range spans 362 to 390 miles, depending on specification, while the Black Badge’s quoted range starts at 359 miles and reaches the same 390-mile maximum.
Maximum DC charging power is somewhat disappointing at 195kW, with a 10–80 per cent charge quoted at 28 minutes on a suitable rapid charger. On a 50kW charger, the same top-up takes a claimed 107 minutes. AC charging is supported at up to 22kW, with an empty-to-full charge taking five hours and 45 minutes for the standard car, or five hours and 30 minutes for Black Badge.
My stop at an Ionity rapid charger didn’t produce the headline rate: 162kW was the highest figure I saw. I could still very happily imagine gliding down to the south of France in the Spectre, with an occasional charging stop along the way. Buckinghamshire in dreadful weather gave me plenty of reason to wish I was heading in that direction.
Interior, practicality and boot space
The Spectre Series II is a two-door, four-seat coupé measuring a sizeable 5,490mm long, 2,144mm wide, 1,585mm tall with a 3,210mm wheelbase and a 12,700mm turning circle. Those dimensions help explain why it feels so substantial, particularly on a country lane. The boot holds a pretty measly 380 litres.
The sizeable rear-hinged doors are part of the occasion, although they need some care. Park beside another car or an obstruction and you can find yourself sliding through the gap rather than making the grand entrance you might have had in mind. My Fowler car park test took place at a nice pub, and even a Rolls-Royce has to deal with the realities of parking beside other people.
Once you’re in the driver’s seat, putting your foot on the brake closes the door. The passenger’s door has a closing button on the centre console, next to the driver, which struck me as an odd place for it.
The seats themselves are huge, comfortable chairs, and that applies in the back as well as the front. A friend who’s more than six feet tall was perfectly happy in the rear, with good space once they were settled. Getting there requires the front seat to slide forwards, which happens at a suitably leisurely pace; like so much else in a Rolls-Royce, it glides, and gliding takes time. My car also had ventilated massage seats, the deepest lambswool footmats you can imagine and privacy glass for the rear.
My test car combined Grace White, Black and Charles Blue inside, with gorgeous Obsidian Tulip veneer. I particularly liked the proper physical key, trimmed in the same light Charles Blue leather as the cabin – it’s a small detail, but a lovely one to have in your hand. Everything inside felt considered and restrained, and the build quality was sensational. You can go an awfully long way with the personalisation, but this car showed how tasteful the result can be. And yes, there’s an umbrella tucked into each door.
Series II adds some interesting alternatives to the familiar leather-and-wood approach. Duality Twill is a rayon fabric made from bamboo, inspired by the bamboo grove in Le Jardin des Méditerranées on the French Riviera, beside Sir Henry Royce’s former winter home, Villa Mimosa. Its embroidered pattern draws on the founders’ interlinked R initials and the ropes of sailing yachts. It’s available in Lilac, Chocolate, Black or a new Sage green, with more than 50 thread colours. A complete interior can involve 2.6 million stitches, 10 miles of thread and up to 25 hours of work.
The new Placed Perforation leather takes a different approach. Its pattern, inspired by clouds in moonlight, contains 78,138 holes across the shoulders and headrests of the front and rear seats, in sizes of 0.8mm, 1mm and 1.2mm. With the illuminated-door option, the pattern becomes less dense around the lights, intended to suggest stars appearing through clouds.
There’s also the option of a high-gloss Brindled Walnut veneer, made by combining wood from non-fruiting walnut trees that would otherwise be burned with eucalyptus fibres left over from fine-paper production. The material is compressed and cut into veneer sheets to create a striped pattern. Glass flakes in the lacquer, beneath a final clear coat, give it a shimmering depth.
There are options, and then there are Rolls-Royce options!
Technology, stereo and infotainment
The Spectre’s cabin is a very Rolls-Royce blend of old and new, and that includes, wait for it, buttons. Plenty of them. I applaud the restraint in keeping so many functions out of the touchscreen, although it can still take a while to work out which button does what. Familiarity with BMW’s systems also makes some of the technology’s origins fairly easy to spot.
I was disappointed that Series II hadn’t moved things on a little further in this respect. The materials and the way everything is put together feel very special, but that doesn’t remove the opportunity to improve the technology. I don’t expect Rolls-Royce to lead every new development; I do expect it to offer advances that bring a useful benefit to the people sitting in the car.
The audio system is a good example. It’s Rolls-Royce’s own and it sounds seriously good, among the best systems without Dolby Atmos that I’ve listened to. You’d hope for something pretty impressive at this level, and that’s what you get. Even so, the absence of the latest audio technology is a shame. I enjoyed listening to it enormously while still wishing the update had gone that little bit further.
The digital interface is called Spirit and you get a beautifully animated Spirit of Ecstacy graphic as it starts up. My car had Apple CarPlay, DAB radio, wireless phone charging and connected services, alongside Parking Assistant Plus, Rolls-Royce’s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and a universal garage-door opener. The voice assistant, Eleanor, is activated by a button on the steering wheel and can help with requests such as adjusting the temperature or finding a charging station.
Some of the most visible changes involve illumination. The interior panel and clock gallery now extend across the fascia, alongside a new illuminated artwork made up of 8,108 individual points of light. Its flowing wave pattern is inspired by mist over the South Downs near Goodwood. There’s a new clock, too, with metal hands and a clear design influenced by aircraft instruments. Beside it, an inset glass display houses a solid stainless-steel Spirit of Ecstasy figure lit from below.
Outside, the illuminated grille might be a little too chintzy for some tastes, but you can switch it off. The same goes for the stars in the headlining. I enjoyed the initial spectacle, although later the cabin lights had me wondering whether I was seeing light from a car behind. I turned them down. It’s lovely to have the theatre available, but I was glad I could settle it all down to suit me.
Prices and running costs
The price? Don’t be vulgar. We can at least give you a steer, although ordering one also means joining a very long queue. A Spectre Series II starts at around £280,000, with Black Badge at around £325,000. Rolls-Royce says the average Spectre works out at roughly £400,000 once all the personalisation has been added, so the starting figure is only part of the story.
Some owners request more than 20 individual Bespoke details, and only the Phantom attracts more demand for Rolls-Royce’s personalisation work. The company’s Private Offices offer further scope to create something individual. Examples include a Starlight Headliner showing the constellations on the day a couple first met, marquetry celebrating a much-loved dog called Bailey, and interiors echoing the colours and textures of an owner’s home. Another commission took its inspiration from the colour associated with a client’s favourite jewellery designer. One owner in Korea has even created a gallery at home in which to display the car.
Black Badge adds its own choices. New Iced Black exterior detailing gives a satin-like finish to much of the brightwork, including the grille surround, window surrounds, bumper inserts, badge surround, handles and Spirit of Ecstasy. The grille vanes stay polished. There’s also a new seven-spoke wheel design with a polished outer ring and glass flakes in the finish, plus an Iced Matte Black option created using a special high-temperature curing process.
Running costs sit in a rather different context when Rolls-Royce says a typical Spectre is the second Rolls in a seven-car garage. Its research found average annual mileage of around 4,000 miles, similar to the Wraith, Dawn and Phantom Coupé, with owners charging almost exclusively at home. The Spectre is often driven alone and increasingly used for the simple pleasure of driving it.
That doesn’t mean every Spectre spends its life tucked away. Rolls-Royce describes a European owner covering more than 30,000 miles in two years, against a typical 4,000 miles a year. A collector in Los Angeles uses theirs daily and particularly enjoys the journey downhill from their house to their garage: regenerative braking means the car arrives showing more range than it had at the start.
The Spectre’s battery has a 15-year, unlimited-mileage warranty, while the car itself has four years’ unlimited-mileage cover for private use.
The verdict: Rolls-Royce Spectre Series II
The Spectre Series II is a truly sumptuous motor car, with a sense of occasion that nothing else quite matches. What’s more, electric power suits a Rolls-Royce beautifully, and this one makes relaxed progress feel very special indeed. It’s surprisingly simple to drive, too, even if you’re always aware of its size on a narrow lane or in a car park.
There are reservations: the ride can be unexpectedly firm around town, the big doors need room and I’d have liked the technology to move further forward. But the comfort, craftsmanship and effortless performance make you feel very special indeed. Series II nudges the Spectre forward in the ways it needs to, even if there’s still room to improve the tech. My biggest disappointment was having to give it back so soon.
FAQs
How long does it take to charge?
Rolls-Royce quotes 28 minutes for a 10–80 per cent charge on a suitable rapid charger, with a maximum DC rate of 195kW. The same charge takes a claimed 107 minutes on a 50kW charger. At the maximum 22kW AC rate, a full charge takes five hours and 45 minutes for the standard Spectre Series II, or five hours and 30 minutes for Black Badge. My highest observed rate at an Ionity rapid charger was 162kW.
How much does it cost and is it worth it?
The Spectre Series II starts at around £280,000, with Black Badge at around £325,000. Rolls-Royce says a typical Spectre reaches roughly £400,000 after personalisation. The comfort, craftsmanship, quiet performance and sense of occasion are wonderful, although I’d like more up-to-date technology and the ride can be unexpectedly firm around town. It’s a very special car, and one I wished I could have kept for longer.
Does Rolls-Royce replace batteries for free?
The Spectre’s battery comes with a 15-year, unlimited-mileage warranty, which Rolls-Royce has extended to new and existing cars. Any repair or replacement needs to qualify under the warranty’s terms; it isn’t an automatic promise of a brand-new battery whenever the range drops. The car itself has a four-year, unlimited-mileage warranty for private use.
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