British manufacturer Rolls-Royce has developed an all-electric aircraft called Spirit of Innovation. The aircraft took its first flight this week – and it looks something straight out of a sci-fi movie. The sleek single-seater prop plane features a form factor similar to the racing planes from the 1930s. It took off from the UK Ministry of Defense’s Boscombe Down site.
The aircraft remained airborne for 15 minutes, a milestone for greener, fully electric air transportation – and it also aligns with the Spirit of Innovation’s upcoming attempt to set a world record of flying at over 300 mph.
Backing from the British government
The plane propeller was powered by a 400-kilowatt electric powertrain, the equivalent of over 500 horsepower, while what the company claims to be the more power-dense battery pack ever made for an aircraft provided the juice.
The project has received solid backing and is partly sponsored by the British government and Aerospace Technology Institute, a renowned center for aerospace research in the country.
“We are focused on producing the technology breakthroughs society needs to decarbonize transport across air, land, and sea, and capture the economic opportunity of the transition to net-zero,” said Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East.
“This is not only about breaking a world record; the advanced battery and propulsion technology developed for this program have exciting applications for the Urban Air Mobility market and can help make ‘jet zero’ a reality,” he added.
Other aircraft in the making
Rolls-Royce has huge goals, aiming to achieve net-zero operations by 2030. With the right tech in place, it might have a shot.
Similarly, NASA has also started testing an all-electric take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The vehicle has been developed by California-based Joby Aviation, with the aim to establish an entirely new form of city-to-city travel.
NASA is using aircraft to collect performance and acoustic data to help make more airspace concepts in the future as a part of its Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) National Campaign. It could be a leap forward in the integration of eVTOL into the future of transportation.
