Fully electric plane can be ready in three years: Rolls-Royce Holdings

Rolls-Royce Holdings expects a fully-electric small aircraft in three to five years, a top executive said.

Rolls-Royce Holdings, the engine maker known for powering Airbus and Boeing workhorse jets, expects a fully-electric small aircraft in three to five years, a top executive said.

The first commercial application of P-Volt, a battery electric system developed by Rolls-Royce, will have about 600 kilowatt hours of power, which will enable flying six to eight people as far as 80 nautical miles, Rob Watson, president of the company’s electrical division, said in an interview in Singapore on Monday. 

That range will keep improving with better battery technology, and may eventually be able to fly as much as 400 km in the 2030s, London-based Watson, who’s attending the biennial Singapore Airshow this week, said.