RR Builds World's Fastest Electric Aircraft

[MIflyer]

From Avweb
Rolls-Royce's "Spirit of Innovation" has officially become the world's fastest all-electric aircraft with the recent confirmation of two speed records. Now verified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the aircraft was recorded at 555.9 km/h (345.4 MPH) over 3 kilometers (1.86 miles), 213.04 km/h (132 MPH) faster than the previous record-holder. It also completed a 15 kilometer (9.32 mile) run at an average speed of 532.1km/h (330 MPH), breaking the prior record by 292.8km/h (182 MPH).

"Achieving the all-electric world-speed record is a fantastic achievement for the ACCEL team and Rolls-Royce," said Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East. "I would like to thank our partners and especially aviation start-up 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."
The record-breaking runs were flown by Rolls-Royce test pilot and director of flight operations Phill O'Dell and Electroflight pilot Steve Jones on Nov. 16, 2021, at the U.K. Ministry of Defence's Boscombe Down experimental aircraft testing site. A third record for the fastest time to climb to 3,000 meters, which Spirit of Innovation reportedly accomplished in 202 seconds, is awaiting verification. Part of Rolls-Royce's Accelerating the Electrification of Flight (ACCEL) project, Spirit of Innovation is an electric version of the Nemesis NXT kit racing plane powered by a 400-kW electric powertrain.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Nice!

 

[Wurger]

 

[buffnut453]

Aside from capturing speed records. it's incredibly cool looking!

 

[MIflyer]

Keep it up and one day they'll have something as fast a P-40!

And I guess it has about the same cross country range as an Me-163.

 

[Gnomey]

Cool!

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

It's a start.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The endurance to weight ratio must be a killer on these electric planes. On a fuel-powered plane, the further you go the lighter you get. On a battery plane you're essentially hauling deadweight across the skies.

 

[GTX]

The endurance to weight ratio must be a killer on these electric planes. On a fuel-powered plane, the further you go the lighter you get. On a battery plane you're essentially hauling deadweight across the skies.

Nobody ever said making electric planes would be easy

Today's batteries won't cut it—but researchers aren't ready to give up hope.

www.motherjones.com

 

[msxyz]

The endurance to weight ratio must be a killer on these electric planes. On a fuel-powered plane, the further you go the lighter you get. On a battery plane you're essentially hauling deadweight across the skies.

Not to mention that the energy density of batteries is more than an order of magnitude less than chemical fuels. The difference in efficiency cannot compensate that.

 

[Snautzer01]

Not to mention that the energy density of batteries is more than an order of magnitude less than chemical fuels. The difference in efficiency cannot compensate that.

Yet. I can power up my phone wich is so much more advanced in 30 min from dead to full. With all apps taking power while loading.

Dont stay in the steam era. Genius minds will get us there. Not today or next week but i, as a diesel head, am amazed by the fast progress made. Ffing fast planes?? Its like the 1920. There should be a Schneider trophy again.

 

[SaparotRob]

Yet. I can power up my phone wich is so much more advanced in 30 min from dead to full. With all apps taking power while loading.

Dont stay in the steam era. Genius minds will get us there. Not today or next week but i, as a diesel head, am amazed by the fast progress made. Ffing fast planes?? Its like the 1920. There should be a Schneider trophy again.

I think you're on to something there, Snautzer01.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Genius minds will get us there. Not today or next week but i, as a diesel head, am amazed by the fast progress made.

Genius minds? I think the very fact that I could power a 1912 motorcycle (or your example of 1920s aircraft) with 2022's readily available fuel shows us that genuine minds aren't getting us anywhere fast. We've had electric cars since the 1970s, about the same time notwithstanding billionaires' pet space projects, that humans last left earth's orbit.

There's only two ways we'll get to widespread use of electric aircraft, the same as any other aeronautical advance: it makes money for the airlines; or it helps the military win wars. I can't see how a battery-powered airliner would work. How big and heavy does a battery need to be to fly a 787-sized airliner with 300+ passengers from LA to Tokyo?

IMO we've stagnated.

 

[Snautzer01]

I think you're on to something there, Snautzer01.

What would we want to be the challenge?
Perhaps a 3 streak dual
Paris to London and back.
Shanghai to Quindao
And ofcourse Reno (i think i know a judge there)
At least one of the legs of above is piloted by a women. Teams can decide for themself wich.

Lets relive the 1920. The time aircraft where exiting.

Thoughts?

 

[special ed]

Genius minds? I think the very fact that I could power a 1912 motorcycle (or your example of 1920s aircraft) with 2022's readily available fuel shows us that genuine minds aren't getting us anywhere fast. We've had electric cars since the 1970s, about the same time notwithstanding billionaires' pet space projects, that humans last left earth's orbit.

There's only two ways we'll get to widespread use of electric aircraft, the same as any other aeronautical advance: it makes money for the airlines; or it helps the military win wars. I can't see how a battery-powered airliner would work. How big and heavy does a battery need to be to fly a 787-sized airliner with 300+ passengers from LA to Tokyo?

IMO we've stagnated.

Electric cars have been around since 1912.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Electric cars have been around since 1912.

True. I was thinking of the electric milk floats of my youth.

"In August 1967, the UK Electric Vehicle Association put out a press release stating that Britain had more battery-electric vehicles on its roads than the rest of the world combined."

 

[Admiral Beez]

I think carbon-powered airliners are here to stay, at least until the 2050s. As they are huge emitters of pollution the trick is to collect and mitigate that pollution. That's the future, reducing the impact as much as the generation of GHG.

 

[nuuumannn]

I believe that the hybrid car is at this stage in the evolution of EVs, a better bet, to be honest. There is a future, but its not yet at a point where EVs can replace automobiles like for like. Hybrids could be an alternative for particular aircraft roles as a step toward EV aircraft, because those in extensive use are still a way off yet.

Lots of airlines around the world have experimented with using alternative fuels to one degree or another, in one-off demonstration long haul flights to using a combination of regular petroleum based fuels simultaneously with green fuels. It's something airlines are taking seriously, as passengers are expecting airlines to take more action.

 

[msxyz]

As long as the energy will be stored into chemical batteries, the EVs (car, trucks, now even planes!) are not going anywhere. There's a tremendous effort to push the public toward EVs using scaremongering tactics (the CO2 produced by cars is but a fraction of all human activities combined) but these are heavier, have short range (and omologation cycles are a scam - real range is 20% less at minimum), the battery output is dependant on temperature and it relies on expensive materials that are expensive and polluting to extract and also to recycle. Then, there is the plug. Good luck restarting an EV car/truck in the middle of nowhere if the battery dies. If you travel far from civilization, you can't take an extra battery with you, unlike it can be done with a simple tank of gasoline.

Combustion engines may not be as efficient as an electric motor, but the real advantage is in the flexibility of using a liquid fuel.

Unless somebody comes up with a cheap fuel cell that can be refuelled like a normal gasoline car, there is no contest.

In case of planes, using an electric engine is possibly even less economical, since, unlike cars, no energy is recovered from the constant use of brakes. Aircraft engines of all types are engineered to operate most of the time at peak efficiency while, at least in a car, the electric motor has the advantage of delivering the maximum torque already at startup.

 

[ThomasP]

Although all-electric cars are problematic in the near future, due to the reasons msxyz mentions above, hybrid-electric cars for the most part are not. Since your mpg is ~50% greater you are effectively cutting greenhouse gas emissions by about 33% vs a normal gasoline powered vehicle.

In the US transportation accounts for ~30% of greenhouse gas emissions, so if everything could go to hybrid-electric you would be reducing total greenhouse gas emissions by ~10%.

All-electric vehicles operate at the equivalent of ~150% greater mpg electricity-to-gasoline comparatively. If we can generate the electricity used for the vehicles via non-fossil fuel generation we would reduce the greenhouse emissions by ~60%, or ~20% of the total US greenhouse gas emissions. And, although we are doing very little of it so far, capturing greenhouse gases at the generation source (ie coal, natural gas, or oil-fired power systems) would allow a further reduction - so even the production penalty in terms of greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced.

Obviously, as msxyz mentions above, the use of all-electric power in aircraft is more problematic.