While normal people are testing electric vehicles for range to the charging station, Rolls-Royce is subjecting its $9.5 million roadster to a survival test spanning the next century and a half. Rolls-Royce has introduced the Project Nightingale electric roadster to the roads—the first fully battery-powered vehicle to be produced in a limited run of just 100 units. While the rest of the world is focused on making cars cheaper and more accessible, the British have decided to see if their new model can survive the apocalypse.

The engineers' main question is: «What if the owner decides to open the trunk?» It seems pointless for a vehicle owner to even know where this fifth door is located for nine and a half million dollars. At most, one awkward journalist’s body or a pair of pure gold tennis rackets would fit inside. But no. The engineers built the Piano Boot mechanism—a side-opening, console-style lid reminiscent of a piano cover.

And now they open and close it fifteen thousand times in a row. That’s exactly 150 years of use, assuming you use the trunk twice a week. They seriously expect this car to be purchased by dynasties—that the great-grandchild of the current owner will want to put their electronic cane in there in 2176, press a button, and the lid will open with the same noble hydraulic sigh as on the day of purchase. If the mechanism squeaks even once on cycle number 14,999—the lead engineer will be forced to personally apologize to the ghost of Henry Royce.

The vehicle itself, measuring 5.76 meters long, is comparable to a Phantom sedan, but inside, there is room only for two mortals and their excessive ego. The folding roof is made of cashmere—the very material that grandmothers use to knit socks. It will be roasted in ovens at 80 degrees Celsius, frozen beyond the Arctic Circle, and transported nearly three kilometers high to ensure that the wealthy do not freeze during a stroll in the Alps.

The maximum speed is capped at a paltry 250 km/h because cruising with the top down would be simply unseemly—your hairstyle might become tousled or your monocle might fly off. Deliveries are slated for 2028. By that time, ordinary Chinese EVs will have rusted away in landfills three times over, while the Nightingale will still be undergoing its endurance tests. The buyers of this machine are not just wealthy individuals. They are those who buy eternity on credit at a very low interest rate. They don’t care about charging infrastructure; all that matters to them is this: a hundred years from now, when archaeologists excavate this roadster from a garage, it must start on the first crank, and its trunk must open with absolutely silent precision.