Hyperloop One on Wednesday announced the completion of the first full-scale test of its Hyperloop technology in a vacuum environment conducted on May 12th. In the test, the company's hyperloop vehicle which uses magnetic levitation technology pulled off a speed of 70 miles per hour down the length of the company's test track in Nevada. Hyperloop One posted this video of the low-speed test.
This test marks a historic breakthrough in Hyperloop technology proving that Hyperloop is real, after all, it is the first new mode of transportation in over 100 years. Hyperloop One is essentially reinventing transportation by developing the world's first Hyperloop, an integrated structure to move passengers and cargo between two points immediately, safely, efficiently and sustainably, reports Financial Express.
According to recent reports, the Los-Angeles-based company is further developing the technology and is gearing up to send an 8.5 meter-long pod hurtling down a set of tracks in a test run in Nevada in the next few weeks. The company is working to develop a technical vision proposed by Elon Musk, the founder of rocket maker SpaceX and electric car company Tesla Motors. In 2013, he suggested sending pods with passengers through giant vacuum tubes between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Hyperloop aims to achieve speeds of 250 mph (402 km/h) in its upcoming phase of testing.
In the latest test, the Hyperloop One pod levitated for 5.3 seconds in a vacuum-sealed tube and reached speeds of 70 miles per hour (113 km/h), the company said in a statement. By comparison, another test by Hyperloop One that made national headlines last year was done on an open-air track, not in the tube, a key to achieving high speeds. Meanwhile, backers of the project envision the pods reaching speeds of 750 miles per hour that is 1,200 kph.
However, sceptics say the hyperloop idea faces real-world challenges ranging from obtaining construction permits to making turns at jet speed. Hyperloop Transpor-tation Techno-logies (HTT) is in talks with five Indian states to build a high-speed travel network and will also raise USD 100 million to invest in the country. It is in talks with a corporate house for a local partnership and also an academic institution.
HTT Chairman Bibop Gresta had said. "We have five offers on the table from five chief ministers. We spoke to them and the one that will give us the land we will go and build. We have local partners and we are now raising USD 100 million and bringing another investment from abroad." The idea is to build a network between important cities like Mumbai and Delhi or Mumbai and Bengaluru in such a way that the journey time gets reduced to as low as an hour.