Rolls-Royce Unveils Comprehensive Electric Power Plan

摘要

Like many of the world's aerospace gas-turbine makers, Rolls-Royce is coming to terms with the emerging electric power revolution in civil and military aviation. As it embarks on several parallel new propulsion technology ventures, the company is revealing key details of its 21st-century strategic development game plan. "We are at a pivotal point in history," says Sara Poxon, head of operations for Rolls-Royce Electrical, a group recently formed within the company to oversee a new industrial strategy to take advantage of what she describes as an "inescapable trend." With up to a billion electric cars predicted to be on the road by 2040 and technology pushed primarily by the automotive industry to greater power densities in electrical machines, power electronics and energy storage systems, "we are reaching the point where they become viable for aerospace; we are starting to see and acknowledge that," says Poxon.