Aviation
General /
Europe
electrifying
Fully electric, Rolls Royce's Spirit of Innovation may have broken 3 records
Rolls Royce Spirit of Innovation
image: Rolls Royce
Rafael Ramos
11/22/2021
Rolls Royce's light all-electric plane powered by a 400 kW (approximately 543 hp) power train, consisting of three engines connected to a 6,000-cell battery, made a test flight on November 16, which may have recorded the highest speed ever achieved by a purely electric plane.
According to the manufacturer, three records were broken when reaching 623 km/h (highest speed), reaching 555.9 km/h in a stretch of 3 km (231.04 km/h faster than the current record) and reaching 532.1 km/h in a stretch of 15 km (292.08 km/h faster than the current record). In addition, the plane reached 3 km in altitude in 202 seconds (60 seconds less than the previous record)
“We believe our all-electric 'Spirit of Innovation' aircraft is the fastest all-electric aircraft in the world, setting three new world records,” the company said in a statement.
However, these numbers need to be recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). The flight data has already been submitted to the agency, and Rolls Royce expects the records to be made official soon.
The Spirit of Innovation plane is part of the ACCEL or ‘Accelerating Flight Electrification’ project. Part of the project is funded by the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) and the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Innovate UK.
In addition to a technical achievement, the project can provide important data for the future of electrification in the aeronautical sector, since the demand characteristics of the batteries are very similar to those observed in Spirit of Innovation.
See the flight video on the external link below.
Rolls Royce Spirit of Innovation
image: Rolls Royce
Rolls Royce Spirit of Innovation
image: Rolls Royce
Rolls Royce Spirit of Innovation
image: Rolls Royce
Hyperlinks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
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Rafael Ramos
Aviation enthusiast from an early age, he had his first contacts with the area developing that good old habit of spending dozens of hours in front of the screens of Micrsoft Flight Simulator and other simulators. With a solid background in various technological areas, including engineering and chemistry, Rafael has rejoined aviation as editor and author of articles and materials on our portal, providing invaluable help to the dynamics and expansion of the website and the aeronautical community, bringing us the news and updates so indispensable for us to remain current in our area of operation.
   
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