Rolls-Royce’s Spirit of Innovation electric airplane just broke the all-electric top speed record, flying at 384.4 miles per hour.
That is, if the flight is approved and the record is certified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). If the record is verified, the company’s single-seater aircraft would have beaten the previous record by an astonishing 132 mph, established in 2017 by Siemens’ Extra 330LE eAircraft.
Additionally, it reached a height of little over 10,000 feet in 202 seconds, 60 seconds quicker than the previous record holder, demonstrating the tremendous muscular strength of electric. The Rolls-Royce electric aircraft is powered by a 400-kilowatt electric propulsion system and has “the most energy-dense propulsion battery pack ever manufactured in aerospace.”
This Rolls-Royce program’s innovative battery and propulsion technology has fascinating possibilities in the Advanced Air Mobility sector. Following the world’s attention on the importance of action at COP26, this is another milestone that will contribute to making ‘jet zero’ a reality and advancing the objective to provide the technical breakthroughs necessary to decarbonize air, land, and marine transport.
While electric aircraft are unlikely to replace fuel-guzzling long-haul airliners any time soon — the energy-to-weight ratio is just not realistic with today’s battery technology — however, they may begin to take over shorter journeys.
This is a Pr Newswire Feed; edited by Clean-Future Team