Rolls-Royce has announced it will develop energy storage systems (ESS) that will enable aircraft to undertake zero emissions flights of over 100 miles on a single charge. In order to deliver this ground-breaking technology, it is planning an £80m investment in ESS over the next decade, that will create around 300 jobs by 2030.
Aerospace-certified ESS solutions from Rolls-Royce will power electric and hybrid-electric propulsion systems for eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing) in the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market and fixed-wing aircraft, with up to 19 seats, in the commuter market. By 2035, Rolls-Royce is planning to integrate more than 5 million battery cells per annum into modular systems. These modules will deliver market-leading energy density levels.