Rolls-Royce launches new two-seater electric car

Hsin-Yi LoSouth East
News imageBBC/Danny Pike A light blue Rolls-Royce two-seat convertible inside a showroom. BBC/Danny Pike
Rolls-Royce says 100 Project Nightingale models will be built at its Goodwood headquarters

Luxury car maker Rolls-Royce has unveiled a new two-seater electric convertible model.

The BMW-owned company said it will create just 100 of the Project Nightingale cars and will be hand-built at the Rolls-Royce headquarters in Goodwood, West Sussex, with deliveries anticipated to start in 2028.

Being pure electric means there will be "virtually no mechanical noise", the company said.

Last month, Rolls-Royce scrapped its pledge to only sell pure-electric cars from 2030, adding it would continue to offer vehicles with petrol engines beyond that date.

News imageBBC/Danny Pike The interior of a two-seat Rolls-Royce convertible. BBC/Danny Pike
The company said Project Nightingale is inspired by its 1920s EX models and the Art Deco era

Rolls-Royce said Project Nightingale will measure 5.76m, which is roughly the same length as its flagship four- or five-seater saloon, Phantom.

It added it would have a long bonnet to give it a "torpedo-shaped form", drawing inspiration from the company's experimental cars of the 1920s, known as EX models, and the Art Deco era.

Chris Brownridge, chief executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said: "Some of the most discerning Rolls-Royce clients in the world asked us for our most ambitious work.

"We responded by bringing three things together that have never co-existed in our brand: the complete design freedom of coachbuilding, our powerful, near-silent all-electric powertrain, and a uniquely potent yet serene expression of open-top motoring."

Brownbridge adds Project Nightingale is the "most extravagant expression of what Rolls-Royce is capable of today".

While the company does not publicly disclose the price of its cars, it said Project Nightingale would sit between its Private Commission and Coachbuild products, which have been estimated to cost more than £500,000 and £20m respectively.

Additional reporting by PA.

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