The Hyperloop One prototype pod accelerated down the length of its 500-meter-long test tube in the Nevada desert, reaching a top speed of 192 mph before gliding to a stop.
The test of its XP-1 passenger pod traveled for just over 300 meters before the brakes activated and the vehicle gradually decelerated. The company claims the pod clocked the highest speed a Hyperloop has gone.
The company plans to push its pods at speeds closer to 750 mph as time goes on,
A little technology background, the nearly airless tube was depressurized to the” equivalent of air at 200,000 feet above sea level,” the company says. The pod utilized magnetic levitation to travel above the track, limiting aerodynamic drag and allowing for a top speed of 760 mph.
The pod made a whistling noise as it traveled through the tube, a sound that Hyperloop One chair Shervin Pishevar is proud of.
“When you hear the sound of the Hyperloop, you hear the sound of the future,” Pishevar said in a company statement.
In May, Hyperloop One hit a speed of 70 mph on its test track and pulled 2 G’s of acceleration, making the new test that much more impressive. Compared to May, the pod traveled 4.5 times further, hit 2.7 times faster speeds and utlizied 3.5 times more horsepower.
The Hyperloop One test is just the latest in a series of big steps of Hyperloop technology.
The Boring Company, led by Tesla’s Elon Musk, has previously stated that it would like to utilize Hyperloop technology.
“Fast to dig, low cost tunnels would also make Hyperloop adoption viable and enable rapid transit across densely populated regions, enabling travel from New York to Washington DC in less than 30 minutes,” the company said in a published FAQ.
Boring broke ground on an underground tunnel in the Los Angeles area and is in talks to make one in Chicago, both of which could utilize Hyperloop technology to propel electric sleds through the tunnels.
Hyperloop One’s main competitor Hyperloop Transportation Technologies also has its own 200-mile Hyperloop being built in South Korea. That Hyperloop is planned of reaching speeds up to 620 mph.
All that aside, it does indeed appear that we’re all one step closer to zooming between cities at top speed.
