Video: Rolls-Royce e-aircraft ‘world’s fastest all-electric vehicle’

Rolls-Royce says its ‘Spirit of Innovation’ electric aircraft clocked three world records during runs which saw it reach 623km/h.

“We believe our ‘Spirit of Innovation’ aircraft is the world’s fastest all-electric aircraft, setting three new world records,” the company says which has submitted data for verification to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) – the World Air Sports Federation which controls and certifies world aeronautical and astronautical records.

The e-aircraft reached a 555.9km/h top speed over three kilometres, smashing the existing record by 213.04km/h, Rolls-Royce says.

In further runs at the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence’s Boscombe Down experimental aircraft testing site, the aircraft achieved 532.1km/h over 15km – 292.8km/h faster than the previous record – and broke the fastest time to climb to 3000 metres by 60 seconds with a time of 202 seconds, it adds.

“We hope that the FAI will certify and officially confirm the achievements of the team in the near future.”

“Staking the claim for the all-electric world speed record is a fantastic achievement for the ACCEL (Accelerating the Electrification of Flight) project team and Rolls-Royce,” Rolls-Royce chief executive Warren East says, thanking partners such as automotive powertrain supplier YASA and aviation energy storage specialist Electroflight.

“The advanced battery and propulsion technology developed for this programme has exciting applications for the Advanced Air Mobility market,” he says.

“Following the world’s focus on the need for action at COP26, this is another milestone that will help make ‘jet zero’ a reality and supports our ambitions to deliver the technology breakthroughs society needs to decarbonise transport across air, land and sea.”

The UK Government is proud to back projects like this to leverage the private investment necessary to unlock cleaner, greener aircraft which will allow people to fly as they do now, but in a way that cuts emissions, UK business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng says.

The ‘Spirit of Innovation’ is part of the ACCEL project, with half of the project’s funding provided by the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), in partnership with the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and Innovate UK.

The ACCEL programme is supported by Jaguar Land Rover which loaned all-electric Jaguar I-Pace cars as towing and support vehicles.

The e-aircraft has a 400kW electric powertrain and the most power-dense propulsion battery pack ever assembled in aerospace, Rolls-Royce says.

The project and world record runs provided important data for future electric power and propulsion systems for all-electric urban air mobility and hybrid-electric commuter aircraft.

The characteristics that ‘air-taxis’ require from batteries are very similar to what was developed for the ‘Spirit of Innovation’, Rolls-Royce explains.

“Our next step is to adapt this pioneering technology so it can be applied across the wider aerospace industry to deliver a more sustainable way to fly,” Electroflight managing director Stjohn Youngman says.

Rolls-Royce’s history of flying speed record attempts go back to the Schneider Trophies of the early 1930s and led to the famous World War II Spitfire’s development.