Hyperloop One is taking strides towards reality, as the company has unveiled a full-scale prototype of the passenger pods that would be propelled through the vacuum-tube system. The company also announced a successful real-world test of the technology, which transported a test sled along the test track for the first time in vacuum conditions.
The sleek, windowless pods are constructed from lightweight materials: structural aluminum and carbon fiber. At 28 feet long each, the pods can be configured for the transportation of either passenger or caro.
The pods will be transported forward with an electric motor using magnetic-levitation (mag-lev) technology. When introduced into a low-pressure environment, fiction is reduced to the point where high speeds can be achieved with a minimally increased energy requirement.
“Hyperloop One has accomplished what no one has done before by successfully testing the first full scale Hyperloop system,” said Hyperloop One co-founder Shervin Pishevar in a statement. “By achieving full vacuum, we essentially invented our own sky in a tube, as if you’re flying at 200,000 feet in the air.”
Learn more about the test here.
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