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2022 Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge | Ecstasy in the shadows

Every now and again, something hits my driveway that absolutely stumps me. It can be tricky enough to come up with something to write about the fifth Hyundai Sonata or third Jeep Wrangler I’ve driven in the space of 18 months, but something like the 2022 Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge presents a very different conundrum: What can I possibly say to the person who has a half million dollars to spend on their next ride? I rounded up there but not by much. Before tax, tags and your driverÂ’s salary, this Ghost checks in at $484,950. Of that, $43,850 goes to Black Badge, which, when boiled down to its purest essence, is an enthusiastÂ’s equipment package with some rather dramatic aesthetic components. Rolls-RoyceÂ’s reputation is that of a builder of cars meant to be driven in rather than driven, but Ghost is the de facto “driverÂ’s” four-door in the lineup, and Black Badge is as close to an antidote to that cliche as youÂ’ll find in the company's portfolio. While it is a performance model, Black Badge doesn't completely blow the doors off the Ghost's already-impressive baseline performance. It benefits from an additional 29 horsepower and 57 pound-feet of torque (for a total of 583 hp and 663 lb-ft, respectively) and retuned air springs that “alleviate body roll under more assertive cornering.” The brakes were also tweaked for more immediate response and shorter pedal travel, but the clamps themselves are identical to a standard GhostÂ’s. Put another way, Black Badge is a performance package that happens to cost more than some performance cars. Welcome to tier 0 of car ownership. ThatÂ’s a hollow greeting, of course. Rolls-Royce sold a grand total of 5,586 (ahem) motor cars in 2021, and not one of them is among my permanent collection. YouÂ’re shocked, I know. Statistically, weÂ’re quite likely to be in the same boat. IÂ’m living vicariously through the Rolls-Royce marketing budget and youÂ’re living vicariously through me. Too bad. IÂ’m pretty boring. So boring that the best outing I could come up with was a jaunt to a lake cottage just 30 miles or so north of Detroit proper. Given this carÂ’s price point, youÂ’d be forgiven for insisting that the Ghost had better be able to do just about anything one might expect from modern four-wheeled transportation, but realistically, the person who can afford to be chauffeured in a Black Badge can likely call on other forms of transit should the weather take a turn for the worse.

Rolls-Royce Wraith and Dawn order books closed globally

Rolls-Royce closed order books for the Wraith coupe and Dawn convertible at the end of last year in the U.S. Brand chief Torsten Muller-Otvos told Autocar that both have since been removed from every market. Final orders are still being produced at the Goodwood factory, so the last Wraith and Dawn won't likely leave the line until early next year. But with the taps turned off and nothing to replace them yet, Rolls-Royce will soon be two-thirds of the way done with what has been a very successful chapter in its history. Those two offerings, as well as the Ghost sedan, are based on the architecture BMW created for the 2008 7 Series. Now only the Ghost remains of the trio, at this point planned for production until 2030 when Rolls-Royce will convert being to an electric-only automaker. More modern products like the Phantom II sedan and the Cullinan crossover ride on the company's Architecture of Luxury. That structure will also support the Spectre battery-electric coupe meant to go on sale at the end of 2023. Spectre spy shots reveal a body that looks much like the Wraith; however, Autocar says, "Rolls instead views the Spectre as a belated successor to the coupe version of the seventh-generation Rolls-Royce Phantom, with the pair sharing a similar footprint and the Spectre therefore having its own distinct positioning within the Rolls range." The erstwhile Phantom Coupe's length and wheelbase were about 20 inches longer than those of a Wraith. The Phantom II sedan is but a couple of inches longer than the previous two-door. Point being, the Spectre might be silent, but it won't be small. There will still be some BMW in it, however, like Rolls-Royce's version of the stacked headlights BMW is about to debut on the i7 and X7, and there's speculation the top-dog BMW iX M60i powertrain will cross the Channel to enter Goodwood's service. Peak output for the BMW reaches 610 horsepower and 811 pound-feet of torque, which sound like fine numbers for wafting.

Rolls-Royce could go electric, if battery tech advances

After toying with the idea a few year ago, Rolls-Royce isn't ready to completely give up on the idea of an electric model quite yet. Still, a hyper-luxurious EV from the opulent brand might not happen any time soon. "Suppose we find a battery technology that can offer ranges that are acceptable to our customers," brand boss Torsten Muller-Otvos said, according to Automotive News. "I can definitely imagine a fully electric Rolls-Royce." Muller-Otvos was clear that no final decision on an EV or even a much-rumored plug-in hybrid has been made yet. Rumors of an EV from the brand go back years. At the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, Rolls-Royce showed that it wasn't completely against going electric. The 102EX concept (pictured above) was based on a Phantom but with two, 194-horsepower electric motors and a 71-kWh battery to power them. The company claimed the behemoth had an estimated range of 124 miles and could hit 60 miles per hour in under eight seconds. At least one journalist even got to drive it. However, the brand's wealthy customers reportedly weren't convinced, and the project was canned. In 2014, several reports began suggesting a plug-in hybrid Rolls under development that would answer concerns about range and charging time amongst the clientele. This powertrain could debut on the next-gen Phantom around 2017, and it's likely to be borrowed from parent company BMW.