On 16 November 2021, the aircraft reached a top speed of 555.9 km/h (345.4 mph) over three kilometres, smashing the existing record by 213.04 km/h (132mph). In further runs at the UK Ministry of Defence's Boscombe Down experimental aircraft testing site, the aircraft achieved 532.1km/h (330 mph) over 15 kilometres, 292.8km/h (182mph) faster than the previous record and broke the fastest time to climb to 3000 metres by 60 seconds with a time of 202 seconds. During its record-breaking runs, the aircraft clocked up a maximum speed of 623 km/h (387.4 mph) which Rolls Royce believes makes the 'Spirit of Innovation' the world's fastest all-electric vehicle.
Warren East, CEO, Rolls-Royce, said: "Staking the claim for the all-electric world-speed record is a fantastic achievement for the ACCEL team and Rolls-Royce. I would like to thank our partners and especially Electroflight for their collaboration in achieving this pioneering breakthrough. The advanced battery and propulsion technology developed for this programme has exciting applications for the Advanced Air Mobility market. 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 Spirit of Innovation' is part of the ACCEL or Accelerating the Electrification of Flight' project. Half of the project's funding is provided by the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), in partnership with the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and Innovate UK.
The characteristics that 'air-taxis' require from batteries, for instance, are very similar to what was developed for the Spirit of Innovation'.
This story is from the May 2023 edition of Future Flight.
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This story is from the May 2023 edition of Future Flight.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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