Rolls-Royce world’s fastest all-electric aircraft

[LockH]

Rolls-Royce presents the world’s fastest all-electric aircraft:
https://tech-papyrus.blogspot.com/2019/ ... SFNXWtOhZ8

[Grantmac]

Given that Redbull airrace courses are under 2 minutes I think having that series go electric would be an awesome idea.

RallyX is already considering it since they are all sprint races.

[Punx0r]

It's wonderful to see a commitment to advancing electric flight.

Does sprinting to top speed take longer in a plane compared to a wheeled vehicle? I.e. is the burst of peak power required to be sustained for longer, leading to thermal problems with the battery and motor?

I ask because the targetted performance seems markedly less than some electric racing cars have, several in the 1000HP-1000kW region.

[Hillhater]

Flight performance is always dictated by (amoungst many other things)... Power and weight.
And in the case of electric aircraft, that weight is dictated by battery capacity/power ratios.
I suspect this RR design is a compromise on battery weight/discharge power, endurance, and capacity.
IE, they could have had a much more powerful drive, but the battery to support it would be disproportionately heavy.

[Foob]

It's interesting that they talk about how they've recruited a big experienced team for this internally important project, but the powerplant is just three YASA motors bolted together. I guess those things are hard to beat.

[grindz145]

The must have somebody pretty smart helping them out with the battery on that one....