Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.) said it was hoping to have an all-electric passenger plane in service earlier than expected, while also forming a new collaboration to develop and deploy air taxis.
The FTSE 100 group electrical division said it was now working on plans to have an aeroplane in the skies by 2025 versus its previous indication of 2026.
On the same day the company announced it was teaming up with a luxury jet and helicopter service provider to collaborate on air taxis, with Rolls providing electrification solutions, maintenance support services, and digital solutions for Luxaviation’s planned network of ‘vertiports’.
An agreement between the two companies will focus on three main areas: charging and energy infrastructure for the vertiports, maintenance provision for electric aircrafts and digital solutions for related applications across ‘advanced air mobility’.
The first element of the partnership will be to create a pilot electrical project, Rolls-Royce said in a statement.
Rolls-Royce had invested in Vertical Aerospace, a UK based air taxi manufacturer, last June.
And, after its all-electric aircraft, the ‘Spirit of Innovation’, set a new speed record for an electric vehicle in November, the company told the Telegraph that its P-Volt project should be able to carry up to eight people 90 miles as part of its initial stage, which is now expected to be complete "within three to five years".