Electrification

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Electrifying the future

We’ve been changing the way the world is powered for the last 100 years. Now, with an increased focus on electrification, we’re set to revolutionize the next 100.

Entering a new era for Rolls-Royce

Pioneering the power that matters requires transformational ways of working

Rolls-Royce is at a pivotal moment in its history – laying the foundations to become the world’s leading industrial technology company.

We have always pursued ever cleaner, safer and more competitive power. Now, the size and impact of the markets we serve make this task more urgent than ever. One of the key elements of our strategy is to champion electrification across all our businesses.

The move to a more electrical world will be gradual for us, but ultimately revolutionary: Rolls-Royce in 100 years will look very different from the Rolls-Royce of today.

It’s a change that is beginning to impact the way we work and products we create. To pioneer the power that the world will need in the future, we must continue to embrace the innovative spirit, visionary thinking and unparalleled expertise that has defined our business since the start.

We’ll be building on a heritage rich in innovation and world-firsts, and experience creating electrical solutions in naval marine, rail and power system applications. We have a world-class team of electrical engineers working across the business ready for the challenge.

6 billion
The number of people expected to fly annually by 2030
1 billion
Increase in the global population by 2030
75%
Reduction in CO2 per passenger KM* across the aerospace sector by 2050 targeted by European Commission’s Flightpath 2050 Vision for Aviation
* relative to the capabilities of typical new aircraft in 2000
90%
Reduction in NOx per passenger KM* across the aerospace sector by 2050 targeted by European Commission’s Flightpath 2050 Vision for Aviation
* relative to the capabilities of typical new aircraft in 2000

Why electrification? Why Rolls-Royce? And why now?

Electrification is an exciting opportunity to shape the way we all live our lives, and it’s a bold new frontier. As one of the world’s leading industrial technology companies, we’re perfectly placed for the journey ahead.

Electrification is being hailed as a pillar of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution. Along with digitalization, it’s touted as the harbinger of new efficiencies into supply chains and the platform for new public policy. It will radicalize the design of everything from our power grids and roadways to vehicles and urban centres.

The need for a truly revolutionary approach to power couldn’t be starker: by 2030, 1 billion more people will be living on earth than today, with 6 billion annual flyers and an astonishing 5 billion people residing in cities.

Electrification has gripped the imagination of companies looking to address this rapidly-changing world. It offers the opportunity for sustainable growth, reduced carbon emissions and a new, fundamental change in the way we power the world around us.

The ability to harness and advance the power of electricity will depend on a company’s technological breakthroughs and understanding of market forces, regulatory demands, environmental necessity, population growth and consumer preference.

With over a century of innovation-driven success behind us, we’re well-equipped to deliver against all of these demands.

  • Our business is already making important inroads into electrification. 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 and Defence – and bring to market what our customers need, when they need it.
  • We are increasingly working in collaboration – both inside and outside Rolls-Royce, aided by our team within Rolls-Royce Electrical. Not only does this help us reduce risk and increase our options, but it draws upon our experience of collaboration in early stage R&D (through our UTC and AxRC networks) and demonstrator programmes (such as the use of risk and revenue sharing partnerships in Civil Aerospace programmes, and partners in Defence consortia)
  • Our adventurous, agile and pioneering mindset can match even the most provocative startups around, while our ability to draw on over a century of industry knowledge and relationships is unparalleled.

We believe in thinking big and setting ambitious goals to pioneer the power that matters.

The power of tomorrow is closer than you might think

Already electrification is having an impact on our markets, customers and the products we are developing.

As we advance new methods of harnessing, storing and utilising electricity, new markets and new industries are beginning to appear. Modes of transport previously confined to our imagination are becoming viable possibilities, and a greener approach to urban-planning will evolve in line with these new technologies.

Such advances depend on our ability to champion electrification. We already have a number of projects underway that draw on the electrical, digital, industrial and engineering expertise we’re renowned for around the world.

Select Tabs

Hybrid electric vertical take-off and landing (EVTOL) vehicle

Quieter, cleaner and potentially disruptive: EVTOLs prepare for take-off

An exciting new market in aerospace for electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles, or EVTOLs, is being opened up by a combination of new electrical and autonomous technologies.

Over the next decade the skies above us could see the arrival of a new generation of increasingly cleaner and quieter aircraft capable of transporting anything from people and goods to military equipment. This new class of vehicles holds the promise to transform personal travel, speed up supply chains and usher in an era of more sustainable cities – not to mention opening up the potential of spectacular new airframe designs.

Find out more about the EVTOL concept we launched at the Farnborough Airshow in 2018

Here’s a look at the emerging market and answers to some common questions.

Why all the excitement?

EVTOLs are creating an enormous amount of buzz and Rolls-Royce is well positioned in this emerging space, given its vaunted engineering prowess and commitment to R&D. It has the industry relationships, knows how to certify aircraft, and has experience of hybrid systems having provided them for applications including naval vessels and trains. Airbus believes the EVTOL market could one day outpace its existing $70bn business. Uber is predicting a fleet of up to 500,000 air taxis, Google founder Larry Page has reportedly invested $100m into a VTOL startup, Kitty Hawk, while three year old start-up Lilium Aviation has so far raised $100m.

What’s powering them?

The technologies powering the EVTOL concepts currently being proposed across the industry span everything from all electric to hybrid systems that use a gas turbine to generate electricity. Many of the early concepts proposed rely solely upon battery power. While technology developments over the coming years could enable such platforms to travel short distances within cities, they do require an extensive charging infrastructure and will struggle to reach high speeds and long distances.

As a result, hybrid concepts are likely to provide a stronger first step into the electrical future. In the hybrid space, the combinations include turbo-electric where the propulsive power is electric – a gas turbine is used to generate electricity – and there is no energy storage; through series hybrid, where the propulsive power is electric and energy storage is active – batteries can be relied upon to power the aircraft at certain times during flight; to parallel hybrid where the propulsive power is a mix of conventional gas turbine-driven fans and electric-driven fans with active energy storage.

Rolls-Royce’s hybrid EVTOL concept is based around the M250, the engine of choice for roughly 125 types of fixed-wing aircrafts and helicopters. Used in both civil and defence applications, it’s logged 250 million flight hours over the past half-century. By adding an electrical generator, the M250 becomes part of a hybrid-electric propulsion system that can power a 4 to 5 person vehicle capable of travelling at 250mph over a range of 500 miles or more. The gas turbine generates 300-400kW of electricity while a battery system (making this a series hybrid system) can provide an additional 300-400KW for hover. The aircraft is also capable of executing a conventional take-off or landing. In the longer term, when battery technology improves, we’ll see the emergence of all electric VTOLs for short range missions, but we expect to see hybrids retained for longer range roles.

How will EVTOLs be used in the beginning?

The first EVTOLs will have the versatility of helicopters. They’re likely to start out relatively small and capable of hauling payloads of a few hundred kilograms. Think about air taxis carrying up to five people, or a cargo carrier that can help speed up delivery times within supply chains. Enabled by distributed electric propulsion, these vehicles will soar over traffic in a way that every commuter dreams about. Look for them in the early 2020s. The projected market size for these early versions is roughly £1bn per year.

Then what?

As battery technology improves over the years, VTOLs will become more electric and fly for longer ranges and at higher speeds. The drive to go further and faster will see hybrid VTOLs move into the intra-city and inter-city, or inter-city, aviation market. The additional range of hybrid VTOLs, compared with pure electric vehicles, will allow them to fly over less densely populated areas, enabling these platforms to become testbeds for the new emerging autonomous technologies.

What are the ripple effects?

Perhaps the most obvious aspect of a VTOL aircraft is its vertical takeoff and landing capabilty, which could also have a profound effect on urban infrastructure. As battery technologies improve – enabling all-electric take-off, hover and landing – EVTOLs could become so quiet that they can operate round-the-clock, greatly reducing congestion on roads. Because they don’t need much of a runway, it’s easy to imagine airports shrinking to the size of a train station or all high-rise buildings equipped with VTOLports as standard. Longer term, think about the way that cities will be designed. Why invest money in concrete ring roads if everyone’s jetting around the skies?

Changing the world with electrification

Novel design concepts, the potential for lower noise and emissions in transportation, cleaner energy for growing cities…it’s obvious why the potential of electrification has captured the world’s imagination

A growing, increasingly urban population will demand a new approach to building and powering cities, and a new era of more sustainable transportation.

“In 25 years, our business will look very different, with new customers and new competitors,” says CEO Warren East. “We are in a unique position to really influence the future of the markets we serve, and this planet we inhabit.”

Future cities

Designing, building and powering the urban infrastructures of tomorrow

Future cities

By 2030, 5 billion people are projected to live in cities. This will require the development of the equivalent of five new mega-cities every year, each roughly the size of Los Angeles.

It’s obvious that to achieve this, we collectively need to rethink the way we design and build cities – it’s the only way to avoid spending enormous amounts of money, laying unprecedented amounts of cement and steel, and generating an increasing amount of emissions.

Future flight

Pioneering the IntelligentEngine into the third generation of aviation

Future flight

Electrification opens up the third generation of aviation – from propellers to jet engines to electric flight – and different sectors will move at different speeds.

EVTOLs have the potential to open up a new personal mobility space and hybrid intra-city and inter-city aircraft could one day open up fresh routes. The widebody segment as we know it may never go all electric, but hybrid propulsion – based on our gas turbine expertise – will open up new opportunities to further increase efficiency through new applications such as boundary layer ingestion.

Across these new markets, the skills and capabilities of Rolls-Royce in bringing together through digital technologies our engine and propulsion systems with our expertise in services, will see us pioneer the IntelligentEngine into electric flight.

We’re already working on creating hybrid electric and all electric aircraft propulsion concepts. We’re pushing the limits of technology, while building the supply chain necessary to scale electrified air travel.

Contacts

Richard Wray

EVP, External Communications & Brand

LinkedIn Mail

Sarah Jones

Head of Electrical Communications

LinkedIn Mail
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