Rolls-Royce claims to have developed world's fastest electric aircraft

Rolls-Royce says that it has developed the ‘’world's fastest all-electric aircraft’’, according to a statement from the company.

According to Rolls-Royce, Spirit of Innovation aircraft has set three new world speed records on a Nov. 16 flight. First, it achieved a top speed of speed of 555.9 km/h (345.4 mph) over the distance of 3 kilometres, which is nearly triple as fast as the previous, 213.04 km/h (132mph) record. It also achieved a speed 532.1km/h (330 mph) over 15 kilometres, another world first, and broke the fastest time to climb to 3000 metres by 60 seconds with a time of 202 seconds, Rolls-Royce claims. The figures have been presented to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FIA) for verification.

Rolls-Royce director of flight operations, and test pilot, Phill O’Dell said:

Flying the 'Spirit of Innovation' at these incredible speeds and believing we have broken the world-record for all-electric flight is a momentous occasion. This is the highlight of my career and is an incredible achievement for the whole team.

The Spirit of Innovation uses a 400kW electric powertrain, as well as the "most power-dense propulsion battery pack ever assembled in aerospace," Rolls-Royce says.