Rolls-Royce begins road testing Project Nightingale EVs

Empty Tank news team

September 23, 2026

Rolls-Royce begins road testing ultra-exclusive Project Nightingale

The luxury automaker is devoting a collective 350 weeks to test and perfect its Project Nightingale electric vehicle prototypes.

Rolls-Royce Project Nightingale prototype rear from above — *The Rolls-Royce Project Nightingale is a nearly 19-foot-long two-seat roadster reserved for just 100 buyers. – Rolls-Royce photo*

Rolls-Royce plans to sell only 100 of its ultra-opulent Project Nightingale electric cars, and it’s taking painstaking efforts to make sure those cars are perfect.

The automaker announced it has begun road testing Project Nightingale prototypes.

Rolls-Royce plans to spend a collective 350 weeks on road testing these exclusive electric convertibles.

Rolls-Royce Project Nightingale prototype driving front — *The Project Nightingale will only be offered to clients by invitation only. – Rolls-Royce photo*

About the Project Nightingale

The automaker said Project Nightingale represents the most extravagant expression of what Rolls-Royce is capable of today, and offers a view of the future. The cars will be sold by invitation only.

The car is designed on the principles of Streamline Moderne from the late Art Deco era, which utilizes precise lines and uninterrupted forms, Rolls-Royce said. In this case, the car uses sheer, monolithic forms.

The car measures 5.76 metres (18.9 feet) long, which is almost as long as the company’s flagship saloon, the Phantom.

The car has the torpedo central fuselage and an expansive hood, a raked windshield, and a compact cabin with two seats.

The rear end has a long tail, and because the car is electric, there are no exhaust pipes. An aero afterdeck provides stability at high speeds and eliminates the need for a spoiler.

Rolls-Royce Project Nightingale prototype rear and side — *Extensive testing will ensure every element of the Rolls-Royce Project Nightingale works perfectly. – Rolls-Royce photo*

About the testing

Rolls-Royce said the prototypes will be taken to the extremes where its clients will take them. This includes journeys through Mediterranean corniches, in the Arctic Circle, and in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. The cars will endure extreme temperatures and altitudes up to 2,750 metres.

Road testing will begin in southern France. The car gets its name from Le Rossignol (French for “the nightingale”), the name of the house Henry Royce built for his designers and engineers near his winter home in the French Riviera. More than a century ago, Rolls-Royce engineers would test cars in the area, as well as in Monte Carlo and London, and now the automaker is continuing that tradition.

Rolls-Royce said static prototypes have already completed 1,430 hours of testing. The cars will be taken into the lab to validate speeds of up to 155 mph. They will be put through extensive analysis to make sure wind noise is barely perceptible within the cars.

The car’s fabric roof will undergo extensive stress testing, including 10 separate tests of its fabric, closing mechanism and performance at temperatures up to 80 C.

The car’s sideways-opening trunk, which Rolls-Royce calls a Piano Boot, will be opened and closed 15,000 times to ensure it maintains its effortless operation for generations to come.