Rolls-Royce

Electric flight: who’s got the power?

Can electric flight ever become a reality? According to ERA member Rolls-Royce, it’s closer than you think. Matheu Parr, Rolls-Royce ACCEL Programme Manager, explains why.

The demand for cleaner, more sustainable power has never been greater. Around the world, businesses, governments and individuals are striving to live more sustainably, and the aerospace industry is no different. New entrants, existing players and collaborations between the two are racing to innovate, bringing the promise of electric flight closer.

Rolls-Royce has always pursued ever cleaner, safer and more competitive power. Now, this task is more urgent than ever. That’s why a key part of our strategy is to champion electrification across our business. Not only that: we want to lead a revolutionary step change in aviation. 

Building on a century of innovation

It would be easy to think this is a new venture for Rolls-Royce. Yet, we have the benefit not only of our rich heritage and list of world firsts, but a proven track record in electrification. We have experience creating electrical solutions in naval marine, rail and power system applications, with a world-class team of electrical engineers working across the business. Rolls-Royce has real applications for real customers in real markets, and is drawing on this experience and technology every day. 

The Rolls-Royce MT30 engine, for instance, has transformed the world’s leading navies with hybrid-electric propulsion. Power Systems is helping the rail industry make a similar transition with its MTU hybrid Rail PowerPack system. Rolls-Royce intends to draw upon such experience across its three primary business units – Power Systems, Civil Aerospace and Defence.

So we’re bringing the best from within our company and also working with some of the brightest minds from new start-ups, academia, and other industries.

The future of flight

Rolls-Royce firmly believes that electrification is the third generation of aviation. We have always been pioneers in aviation, proudly powering innovations including the first turboprop plane, the first jet engine, the first and only commercial supersonic jet, and most recently, the world’s most efficient civil large aero engine. So it’s only right that we pioneer electric flight. We are exploring solutions in personal mobility, air taxis and regional air travel, and are working on a range of technologies, from fully electric, to a variety of gas turbine hybrid engines.

Rolls-Royce is no stranger to aviation competition. So when exploring electric aviation, we set ourselves a demanding target: we want to create the fastest electric plane in history.

Introducing ACCEL: the world’s fastest electric plane

Inside a hangar bay at Gloucestershire airport, a team of highly-skilled British engineers, designers, and data specialists recruited from across Rolls-Royce and beyond are building a high-performance electric plane. The team also brings together some of the top minds from the world of Formula E racing to help design the e-racer.

ACCEL is short for Accelerating the Electrification of Flight. It aims to pioneer a third wave of aviation, supporting Rolls-Royce’s strategy to champion electrification. It is partly funded by the UK Government and involves a host of partners, including electric motor and controller manufacturer YASA and the aviation start up Electroflight.

The plane will be powered by a state-of-the-art electrical system and the most powerful battery ever built for flight. In the year ahead, its abilities will be demonstrated in demanding test environments before attempting to set the record in 2020 from a landing strip on the Welsh coastline.

Powering into the record books

Building the fastest electric plane in the world requires a different way of working to overcome a series of unique challenges. Rolls-Royce is increasingly working through partnerships and collaborations across the business, and this project is no different.

ACCEL is testing new ideas and working through problems at a rapid pace. In the realm of all-electrical flight, that means tackling the twin challenges of energy storage capacity and powertrain performance.

The team will need to build a battery that’s powerful enough to beat a series of speed and performance records, light enough to fly, and stable enough not to overheat. ACCEL has the most energy-dense battery pack ever assembled for an aircraft, providing enough power to fly 200 miles (the equivalent journey from London to Paris) on a single charge. Its 6,000 cells are packaged for maximum lightness and thermal protection. An advanced cooling system can withstand the extreme temperatures and high current demands during flight.

The team monitors more than 20,000 data points per second, measuring battery voltage, temperature, and overall health of the powertrain, which is responsible for powering the propellers and generating thrust. The all-electric powertrain will run at 750 volts and delivers 90 per cent energy efficiency with zero emissions. In comparison, a Formula 1 race car tops out at 50 per cent energy efficiency.

Rolls-Royce has already drawn a series of insights from the unique design and integration challenges, which make us confident we will break the record, but we’re not stopping there. In addition to the speed record, ACCEL plans to set new records for an electrically-powered aircraft, including highest power density achieved for a propulsion battery system.

Alongside our partners and with the team we’ve assembled, we’re very confident we can not only pioneer the field of electric-powered, zero-emissions aviation, but lead it. The aircraft we are building will reach a speed of 300mph, and quite likely more. By comparison, the current record for an all-electric plane, set by Siemens in 2017, is 210mph.

Innovation everywhere

There’s an urgency in the aviation industry, driven by the demand for cleaner energy, paired with a shake up of the market where new entrants are innovating at speed. The pace of change is faster than ever before. While electrification is a key part of our strategy, Rolls-Royce is innovating across our civil aerospace business, developing and optimising products and services. 

The gas turbine remains incredibly important to Rolls-Royce’s future. The Trent XWB, the world’s most efficient aero engine, continues to set records, and will be flying for decades to come. Advance and UltraFan, which will redefine the world of jet engines, will fly beyond that.

Rolls-Royce is also working on cutting-edge robotics programmes alongside partners in academia and industry, to develop technology that can maintain and repair engines.

Our Intelligent Engine vision is coming to life every day, digitising the worlds of products and services in aviation, and bringing them inseparably close.

And of course, Rolls-Royce’s pioneering Trent family of engines, which has carried more than three billion people around the world, continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible. Each new model sets performance benchmarks for civil aviation, and soon Trent engines will power one in two wide-body flights around the world. We will continue to provide efficiency, value and innovation to our customers and look forward to celebrating new orders, new engines in service, and new flying records in 2019.

Powering in to the record books is no stunt – the work we are doing will accelerate zero carbon, electric-powered flight. Boarding an electric plane might be a reality sooner than you think. One thing is for certain though: Rolls-Royce in 100 years will look very different from the Rolls-Royce of today.