The world record for fastest all-electric airplane speed has been broken by the Rolls-Royce-made Spirit of Innovation aircraft, the company claimed Friday.
The plane reached a rocketing 345.4 mph on Tuesday, breaking the previously existing record by 132 mph, wrote the aerospace and technology company — which is separate from the BMW-owned luxury car brand.
“We believe our all-electric ‘Spirit of Innovation’ aircraft is the world’s fastest all-electric aircraft, setting three new world records,” a press release began. “The aircraft was propelled on its record-breaking runs by an [over 500 horsepower] electric powertrain and the most power-dense propulsion battery pack ever assembled in aerospace.”
The plane was created with the goal of being the fastest ever, according to a promotional video.
“This project is an attempt to go break the world electric speed record,” a narrator begins the clip.
“If you put 550 horsepower in a little aeroplane like this, it’s going to go like the clappers. And it does,” adds pilot Steve Jones.
“We’ve broken a record that already existed, but crucially we’ve broken it by a phenomenal amount,” notes Rolls-Royce Electrical customer business director Matheu Parr. “The key thing about breaking the record, it’s about demonstrating how fast this technology is going.”
In addition to being epic on a technical level, breaking the record also provides “important data for our future electric power and propulsion systems for all-electric urban air mobility and hybrid-electric commuter aircraft” the press release adds.”
Stjohn Youngman, the managing director of project partner Electroflight, says Spirit of Innovation collaborators’ next step is to “adapt this pioneering technology so it can be applied across the wider aerospace industry to deliver a more sustainable way to fly.”
While the name Rolls-Royce is most often associated with the land vehicle maker, the company has a long history of setting flying records “dating back to the Schneider Trophies of the early 1930s” according to the release.