Image: Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce’s all-electric aircraft is the world’s fastest electric vehicle, announced the company after concluding its test runs on November 16.
The vehicle named “Spirit of Innovation” reached a top speed of 387.4 mph during its record-breaking runs.
The company held a series of test runs at the UK Ministry of Defence’s Boscombe Down testing facility in Wiltshire, England on November 16. And the results from the mock trials have seen the battery-backed aircraft setting three new world records.
The first of which is hitting 345.5 mph over 3 km — overtaking the old record by 132 mph; secondly, the Spirit of Innovation also managed 330 mph over 15 km, which is 182 mph faster than the previous record; lastly, it also achieved the fastest time to climb to 3,000 m by 60 seconds with a time of 3.4 minutes.
The stellar performance of the Spirit of Innovation beats out the 2017 Siemens electric jet as the fastest electric jet.
Image: Rolls-Royce
The zero-emissions aircraft was announced in 2019 and was developed as part of the Rolls-Royce Accelerating the Electrification of Flight program. It is partly funded by the UK government and the Aerospace Technology Institute — the initiative is aimed at creating a future of low-carbon flight.
The move comes against the backdrop of an increasing need for sustainability, as well as the recent global climate summit calling for countries to cut emissions by 2030.
Image: Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East said in a statement: “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.”
Also in eco-friendly vehicles, Silent Yachts unveiled its newest Silent 60. An electric yacht with a kite wing instead of a conventional sail and has 42 solar panels, allowing for zero emissions. The solar-electric system is configured to power all on the onboard systems without the need for a fossil-fueled generator.
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