Rolls-Royce have broken two world speed records with their all-electric aircraft The Spirit Of Innovation, in what they understate as a “fantastic achievement”.
Proving that electric vehicles really are leading the way into the future, the plane hit an average of 555.9km/h over three kilometres, smashing the existing record by 213.04km/h.
They also clocked 532.1km/h over 15km, which was 292.8km/h faster than the previous record.
Both records were verified by the World Air Sports Federation.
A third record attempt, this one for fastest climb to 3000m was achieved in 202 seconds. This is still involved in the verification process and, if approved, will beat the current record by 60 seconds.
The Spirit Of Innovation also hit a speed of 623km/h, making it the fastest electric vehicle ever, but this was not part of the official record submission.
The aircraft is powered by a 400kW electric powertrain. Rolls-Royce say the propulsion power pack is the most power-dense ever assembled for a plane. It’s enough to charge 7500 phones.
CEO of Rolls-Royce Warren Eat says, “The advanced battery and propulsion technology developed for this programme has exciting applications for the Advanced Air Mobility market.
“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.”
