Rolls-Royce wraps up ground-testing of world’s fastest electric plane

Automobile giant Rolls-Royce completed the ground-testing of the technology that will power the world’s fastest all-electric plane, the company said in a press release. 

“The ACCEL (Accelerating the Electrification of Flight) project is a series of firsts for Rolls-Royce as we journey towards net zero carbon by 2050. It is the first Rolls-Royce project to use offsetting to make the whole programme carbon neutral,” Rolls-Royce said in the press statement.

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The technology has been tested on an ‘ionBird’, a replica of the plane’s core, which includes a “500hp electric powertrain powerful enough to set world speed records and a battery with enough energy to supply 250 homes”.

The team assigned to the project has tested all the components of the system. This includes running of the propeller in maximum speed, which will propel the aircraft to more than 300 miles per hour– a record speed for an electric flight.

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“The completion of ground-testing for the ACCEL project is a great achievement for the team and is another important step towards a world record attempt”, Rolls-Royce Electrical director Rob Watson said in a statement.