A Gloucestershire aerospace company that developed the battery for Rolls-Royce’s high-tech all-electric plane has collapsed into administration.
Staverton-based Electroflight appointed Simon Ashley Rowe and Rachel Hotham of accountancy firm Milstead Langdon as joint administrators on Monday (July 11). The administration was announced on public record site The Gazette .
Last year, Electroflight was heavily involved in Rolls-Royce's Spirit of Innovation project to break the fastest all-electric flight world record - and it achieved its goal in November.
The Electric NXT or E-NXT single-seater racing aircraft had a 400kW powertrain that included three electric motors developed by electric vehicle motor manufacturer YASA and a 6,000-cell lithium-ion battery system supplied by Electroflight.
The aircraft took off from the Ministry of Defence's Boscombe Down site in Wiltshire, flown by former RAF pilot Phill O'Dell, and reached a top speed of 345.4mph over three kilometres, breaking the existing record by 132mph. Electroflight’s Steve Jones also flew the Spirit of Innovation for the 15km and the time-to-climb-to-3,000-metres record runs.
Electroflight was among a number of partner firms involved in Rolls-Royce's ACCEL - or Accelerating the Electrification of Flight - programme at Gloucestershire Airport. Following the world-record attempt last year, Rolls-Royce chief executive Warren East "especially" thanked Electroflight for its collaboration on the "pioneering project".
"The advanced battery and propulsion technology developed for this programme has exciting applications for the Advanced Air Mobility market," he said at the time.
The news of the administration comes just days after Electroflight was acquired by Oxfordshire-based motor firm Evolito, which was part of YASA Motors until its spin-out last year. Evolito is funded by a portfolio of private investors including WayPoint Capital and Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE).
On July 5, Evolito’s chief commercial officer, Ajay Lukha, said: “We are very excited to complete the acquisition of Electroflight.
“The combined capabilities will enable us to deliver flexible solutions for our customers, from best-in-class motor and controller subsystems to fully-integrated electric powertrains.”
It is not yet known why the company collapsed, what will happen to the business now or if any jobs are at risk following the administration. The administrators, Electroflight and Evolito have been contacted for comment.
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