Rolls-Royce announces drive testing for Project Nightingale EV

Rolls-Royce has announced the beginning of drive testing for the upcoming Project Nightingale convertible. The coach-built EV could arrive in 2028 as an open-top two-seater from Rolls-Royce.

Testing has just started with a simple brief: nothing gets to fail. A combined total of 350 weeks will be dedicated by engineers to testing the automobile across all locations prospective owners intend to visit, including the Arctic Circle, Mediterranean coastal routes, and Arabian Peninsula deserts, reaching elevations as high as 2,750 metres.

Design and Heritage

Project Nightingale is a fully electric, open two-seater motor car that takes its name from Le Rossignol—meaning ‘the nightingale’ in French—as well as the residence used by the design and engineering team near Henry Royce’s winter residence on the Côte d’Azur, Project Nightingale is an open two-seat motor car underpinned by a fully electric drivetrain. The aesthetic is inspired by the principles of Streamline Moderne design from the late Art Deco era and draws on Rolls-Royce’s experimental motor cars of the 1920s, known as ‘EX’ models, which are equipped with red badges just like Project Nightingale.

Measuring 5.76 metres in length, Project Nightingale matches the length of the Phantom saloon while remaining devoted entirely to a two-seat convertible form. Its fully electric drivetrain removes the need for large cooling intakes, allowing designers to create unprecedented expanses of uninterrupted surfaces.

Production and Coachbuild Programme

Only 100 examples will ever be built, each coachbuilt by hand at the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood. The vehicle’s creative vision is fully resolved, though the small number of design details that remain demand entirely new manufacturing techniques currently under development.

Buyers are presently involved in an extensive, multi-year schedule of exclusive gatherings and curated experiences organized by Rolls-Royce, which allows them to take part in designing their vehicle while attending private functions in premier global locations.