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Rolls-Royce's all-electric aircraft completes 15-minute maiden voyage

Rolls-Royce, best known in aviation for its jet engines, has taken an all-electric airplane on its maiden voyage. The "Spirit of Innovation" completed a 15 minute flight, marking "the beginning of an intensive flight-testing phase in which we will be collecting valuable performance data on the aircraft’s electrical power and propulsion system," the company announced.  Rolls-Royce said the one-seat airplane has "the most power-dense battery pack every assembled for an aircraft." The aircraft uses a 6,000 cell battery pack with a three-motor powertrain that currently delivers 400kW (500-plus horsepower), and Rolls-Royce said the aircraft will eventually achieve speeds of over 300 MPH.  This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The flight comes about a year after the originally scheduled takeoff and about six months after taxi trials. Rolls-Royce is also developing an air taxi with manufacturer Tecnam, with the aim of delivering an "all-electric passenger aircraft for the commuter market," according to the companies. It has previously teamed with Siemens and Airbus on another e-plane concept.  Aircraft companies have been exploring electric airplanes for a number of years, as air travel and cargo accounts for an increasing amount of greenhouse gases. The World Wildlife Foundation has called it "currently the most carbon intensive activity an individual can make."  Weight is a much bigger problem for airplanes that it is for cars, however. Ford's all-electric Lightning pickup weighs 1,800 pounds more than the gas-powered model, and offers a range that's slightly under half. However, if you added 1,800 pounds to to a Cessna 206 Turbo Stationair, you'd exceed its useful load by 500 pounds before you even loaded passengers (or the pilot) — so it wouldn't even get off the ground.  The project was half funded by the Aerospace Technology Institute and UK government, with the aim of eventually creating all-electric passenger planes. "This is not only about breaking a world record; the advanced battery and propulsion technology developed for this programme has exciting applications for the Urban Air Mobility market and can help make ‘jet zeroÂ’ a reality," said Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East. This article by S. Dent originally appeared on Engadget. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Rolls-Royce's CEO shares his 3 favorite details of the Spectre EV

Rolls-Royce's first electric car, the $420,000 Spectre, has arrived. At a press event marking the EV's launch, the brand's CEO, Torsten Muller-Otvos told Insider he's proud of what Rolls-Royce has achieved in a big-picture sense — by transplanting the essential character of a Rolls into a vehicle with a completely novel powertrain and fuel source. But when asked about his absolute favorite parts of the new model, a few smaller, more subtle details sprang to mind.  Those taillights Rolls-Royce is renowned for painstakingly making sure every detail on a vehicle is as elegant as possible. Look closely at the Spectre's taillights and you'll notice they're single, uninterrupted parts, plunged into a smooth, uninterrupted body panel. Rolls-Royce says this sophisticated look is meant to evoke "islands in a lake." Most cars' taillights are broken up by a trunk lid, or butt up against a gap in the bodywork. That makes things easier, the brand's design director, Anders Warming, said. But the Spectre isn't most cars.  Achieving that look and making sure everything was water-tight took lots of engineering, Muller-Otvos said.  "The effort we've put into those rear lights to give them that shape and also more or less stick them into the body was quite something," he said. "We finally got there, and it works." A grille? On an EV? What's a Rolls-Royce without its iconic, upright grille? It's such a recognizable design element that Rolls-Royce decided to keep it for the Spectre, even though there's no radiator or engine up front. "I also love the detail of the Pantheon grille, because that was also something not in any way debatable," Muller-Otvos said. "You might argue you don't need a grille because there is no cooling air needed, but obviously this is such a signifier of our brand that we said it's unthinkable not to have one." Muller-Otvos said the company went to great lengths to adjust the grille's design so it would deflect air around the car and aid aerodynamics. In an EV, every bit of drag you can eliminate adds driving range.  A brake pedal with a new feature Every new Rolls has doors that electronically swing shut at the push of a button. The Spectre introduces a new feature that makes things even more effortless. Now all you need to do is hop in and press the brake pedal, and the driver's door closes automatically.  Read the original article on Business Insider

This exploding Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow is angering, mesmerizing

Between Las Vegas and the emirates of the Persian Gulf, we're sure there are Rolls-Royces to be found in the desert all the time. And we don't doubt that, given those locations, one gets torched every so often. There'd probably even be someone in a tuxedo or evening gown running for cover when it happens, too. The thing is that we're seldom if ever there to watch it go down, much less capture it in stunning high-definition, frame-by-frame video when it does.
That's where this four-minute clip by Tyler Shields comes in. The American photographer and filmmaker staged and captured this Silver Shadow being doused in gasoline (or at least what we're supposed to believe is gasoline) and set afire in the Mojave Desert, along with actor Cru Ennis and actress Ana Mulvoy-Ten.
It's heartbreaking but mesmerizing, and you'll want to watch the video for yourself to see which side you fall on. If it's the former, take solace at least in the fact that the Silver Shadow is far from a rare beast. In fact, it remains by far the most prolific Rolls-Royce ever, with over 30,000 made between 1965 and 1980... so we doubt this one will be missed terribly.