6 July 2021
Rolls-Royce’s all-electric aircraft the ‘Spirit of Innovation’ will take to the skies for the first time in the coming weeks as we work towards a world-record attempt with a target speed of 300+ MPH (480+ KMH). This exciting project will be carbon neutral and to support this ground-breaking innovation Jaguar Land Rover is loaning all-electric zero emission Jaguar I-PACE cars as towing and support vehicles.
The aircraft has been created by the ACCEL programme, short for ‘Accelerating the Electrification of Flight’, which includes key partners YASA, the electric motor and controller manufacturer, and aviation start-up Electroflight. Half of the project’s funding is provided by the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), in partnership with the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and Innovate UK. The ACCEL team have continued to innovate while adhering to the UK Government’s social distancing and other health guidelines.
Rob Watson, Director of Rolls-Royce Electrical said: “Rolls-Royce and Jaguar Land Rover are UK pioneers who are focused on advancing electrical technology for their respective sectors. We are delighted that Jaguar Land Rover are loaning us I-PACE vehicles as we bid to develop the world’s fastest all-electric plane. It is important to us that the ACCEL programme is carbon neutral and this will be supported by having all-electric cars for ground-support.”
The Spirit of Innovation features an electric propulsion system delivering 500hp+ with the most power-dense battery pack ever assembled for an aircraft providing enough energy to fuel 250 homes or fly London to Paris on a single charge. The I-PACE uses two electric motors producing a total of 394hp with power delivered by a state-of-the-art 90kWh Lithium-ion battery featuring 432 pouch cells. Coincidentally, the I-PACE is capable of 292 miles (WLTP) on a single charge – exactly the distance by road from London to Paris.
Rawdon Glover, Jaguar Land Rover UK MD, said: “The I-PACE is a real pioneer; when it launched in 2018, it was the world’s first premium all-electric SUV, establishing Jaguar as a leader in electrification and setting the brand on a path to become fully electric by 2025. We’re delighted to be supporting another great British pioneer Rolls-Royce and their team as the ‘Spirit of Innovation’ aircraft brings electrified aviation into the nation’s psyche with this incredible 300mph record attempt.”
The ACCEL project is part of Rolls-Royce’s journey towards enabling the sectors in which we operate reach net zero carbon by 2050. We will be using the technology from the ACCEL project and applying it to products for the market, bringing a portfolio of motors, power electronics and batteries into the general aerospace, urban air mobility and small commuter aircraft sectors. In a similar vein, the Jaguar Racing Formula E team’s experiences on-track help generate real-world improvements in Jaguar’s roadgoing electric vehicles. Several members of the ACCEL project team have come from Formula E backgrounds.
Both Rolls-Royce and Jaguar Land Rover are dedicated to decarbonising their footprints. Rolls-Royce has halved the greenhouse gas emissions associated with operations and facilities since 2014 and we are well on track to meet a 2030 target of net zero emissions from operations. We’ve also committed to ensuring our new products will be compatible with net zero operation by 2030, and all products will be compatible with net zero by 2050. Jaguar Land Rover is aiming to achieve net zero carbon emissions across its supply chain, products and operations by 2039.
The ACCEL project represents a series of firsts for Rolls-Royce, including being the first Rolls-Royce project to use offsetting to make the whole programme carbon neutral.
Pictures can be found here:
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About Rolls-Royce Holdings plc
1.Rolls-Royce pioneers the power that matters to connect, power and protect society. We have pledged to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in our operations by 2030. We joined the UN Race to Zero campaign in 2020, and have committed to ensuring our new products will be compatible with net zero operation by 2030, and all products will be compatible with net zero by 2050.
2. Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 150 countries, comprising more than 400 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces and navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers.
3. Annual underlying revenue was £11.76 billion in 2020 and we invested £1.25 billion on research and development. We also support a global network of 28 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research.
4. Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a publicly traded company (LSE:RR., ADR: RYCEY, LEI: 213800EC7997ZBLZJH69).
About Jaguar
Jaguar’s heritage of elegant design and breathtaking performance has excited and delighted the world for over 80 years. Today’s world-class Jaguar family comprises the award-winning XE, XF and XJ saloons, the dramatic F-TYPE sports car, the F-PACE performance SUV – the fastest-selling Jaguar ever – the E-PACE compact performance SUV and I-PACE, the all-electric performance SUV and 2019 World Car of the Year that puts Jaguar at the forefront of the electric vehicle revolution.
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