Rolls-Royce and Jaguar Land Rover have entered a unique collaboration where Rolls-Royce will lend the Jaguar I-Pace to tow Rolls-Royce’s all-electric aircraft, the ‘Spirit of Innovation’. The brand also revealed that the Spirit of Innovation would take it to the skies for the first in the coming weeks. The All-Electric aircraft will attempt a world record with a target speed of 480+ kmph. According to Rolls-Royce, the entire project is carbon neutral, and Rolls-Royce will use the all-electric Jaguar I-Pace as a tow and support vehicle in the project.
The ACCEL programme has created the all-electric aircraft Spirit of Innovation. ACCEL is short for ‘Accelerating the Electrification of Flight’. Under the programme, Rolls-Royce is working with key partners such as YASA, which provides the electric motor and controller. The brand has also partnered with an aviation start-up Electroflight. The brand reveals that 50% of the funding comes from the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI). ATI and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, and Innovate the UK is providing half of the fundings.
The Spirit of Innovation features an electric propulsion system capable of producing over 500 Hp of power. The electric propulsion system draws power from the most power-dense battery pack. The battery is reportedly capable of powering 250 homes in the UK. The power-dense battery pack can also power the aircraft and allowing it to fly from London to Paris on a single charge.
Powering the Jaguar I-Pace is are two electric motors that develop a combined output of 394 Hp of power. The electric motors draw power from a state-of-the-art 90kWh Lithium-ion battery. The battery pack comes with 432 pouch cells capable of delivering a range of 292 miles (~470 km) on a single charge. Coincidentally, this is the same distance between London and Paris, by road.
More details on the project and the world record attempt will be available in the near future.
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