To avoid misunderstandings – while Rolls-Royce’s automotive division belongs to BMW, there is still an independent part of the company that specializes in the construction of aircraft and ship propulsion systems. At Gloucestershire Airport in the southwest of England, specialists from the company are now working on an aircraft for the record books with help from the electric motor and control manufacturer YASA and the aviation company Electroflight, among others. It is expected to break the current Siemens speed record of 210 miles per hour (around 338 km/h).

The mission’s success will be facilitated by a lightweight battery pack consisting of 6,000 cells and an advanced cooling system. “We’re monitoring 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. We’ve already drawn a series of insights from the unique design and integration challenges,” says Matheu Parr, ACCEL Project Manager at Rolls-Royce.