Rolls Claims Electric Speed Records

Rolls-Royce is claiming the record for the world’s fastest flight by an all-electric aircraft after its Spirit of Innovation hit a maximum speed of 387.4 MPH in a series of flights on Nov. 16. The aircraft, an electric version of the Nemesis NXT kit racing plane, is Rolls-Royce’s test bed for electric technology and is funded by U.K. government innovation initiatives. It uses a 400-kW power system and Rolls has always said its intent was to set the records. Its maiden flight was two months ago.

The company claimed a total of three Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FIA) records on Nov. 16. It averaged 345.4 MPH on a 1.86-mile straight line flight, recorded a time to climb of 3,000 meters with a time of 202 seconds. It also flew the 9.32-mile course at the U.K.’s ministry of defense military aircraft testing site at an average of 300 MPH. The flights have to verified by FIA before they become official. Test pilot and Rolls-Royce director of flight operations Phil O’Dell was at the controls.