Urban Transport

Hyperloop One floats vehicle above track in first full-scale test

Hyperloop One floats vehicle above track in first full-scale test
The company has also revealed images of what it says it the first full-scale prototype of its passenger and cargo pod
The company has also revealed images of what it says it the first full-scale prototype of its passenger and cargo pod
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Hyperloop One's prototype passenger pod is made from structural aluminum and carbon fiber
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Hyperloop One's prototype passenger pod is made from structural aluminum and carbon fiber
The company has also revealed images of what it says it the first full-scale prototype of its passenger and cargo pod
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The company has also revealed images of what it says it the first full-scale prototype of its passenger and cargo pod
Hyperloop One co-founders Josh Giegel (left) and Shervin Pishevar
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Hyperloop One co-founders Josh Giegel (left) and  Shervin Pishevar 
Hyperloop One's test track in Nevada
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Hyperloop One's test track in Nevada
Hyperloop One revealed its completed test track in March
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Hyperloop One revealed its completed test track in March
Hyperloop One revealed its completed test track in March
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Hyperloop One revealed its completed test track in March
Hyperloop One's test track under construction
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Hyperloop One's test track under construction
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Hyperloop One, just one of several startups trying to build Elon Musk's Hyperloop, has notched up an important milestone, today announcing it has successfully tested its full-scale system for the first time. While it has still got considerable work to do before it fires passenger pods through tubes at supersonic speeds, it was able to levitate the moving test vehicle over the track in what it describes as its "Kitty Hawk" moment.

Hyperloop One, along with its competitors like Hyperloop Transportation Technologies and Arrivo, aims to one day establish networks of near-vacuum tubes that shuttle passenger and cargo pods along at close to the speed of sound. This Hyperloop system would make it possible to travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles in 30 minutes.

And Hyperloop One does seem to be making some solid progress. In March it revealed its full-scale test track in the Nevada desert, and it is also conducting feasibility studies with governments in Russia, Finland and Dubai.

It describes its latest step forward as its first full systems test, and it actually took place in a private setting back on May 12. The practice sled only reached 70 mph (112 km/h), but saw the team test all of the system's components together for the first time, such as the motor, vehicle suspension, magnetic levitation technology and vacuum pumping system.

Hyperloop One co-founders Josh Giegel (left) and Shervin Pishevar
Hyperloop One co-founders Josh Giegel (left) and  Shervin Pishevar 

"Hyperloop One has accomplished what no one has done before by successfully testing the first full scale Hyperloop system," said Shervin Pishevar, co-founder and Executive Chairman of Hyperloop One. "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. For the first time in over 100 years, a new mode of transportation has been introduced. Hyperloop is real, and it's here now."

The sled levitated above the track for 5.3 seconds using magnetic levitation, reaching nearly 2Gs of acceleration en route to the target speed of 70 mph. By the time the test took place, the team had reduced the pressure inside the test tube to around five pascals, which it says made it the fourth-largest vacuum chamber in the world and the largest in private hands.

Hyperloop One has also unveiled a prototype of the passenger and cargo pod that will eventually travel inside its tubes, seen in the picture at the top of the page. Made from structural aluminum and carbon fiber, it measures 28 ft long (8.5 m) and will be demonstrated traveling along the track as the company moves into its next phase of testing, which will also include running its test vehicle at target speeds of 250 mph (400 km/h).

You can check out the test in the video below.

Source: Hyperloop One

Hyperloop One: First Full Scale System Test | May 12, 2017

View gallery - 7 images
8 comments
8 comments
habakak
No. This is not real and not here now. It is merely a demonstration system and not even working fully as it should. Also it will never work in practice (as is always the case with all tech) as planned. Between LA and SF it will stop many many times for passengers to embark and disembark. The 30 minutes will be more like 2 hours. Still not bad, but it will depend on the price.
Bernd1991
@habakak:
Disembark can be done in a seperate lane, whilst intercity pods travel full speed ahead between major cities. Just like with trains.
Derek Howe
I don't get what's so revolutionary...isn't this (more or less) just a maglev train in a vacuum sealed tunnel?
Bruce H. Anderson
This is a baby step. We shall see what follows. But some of the hype about fast as a Concorde at the price of a Greyhound might be a stretch. The technology is the easy part. The infrastructure will be the real challenge.
Daniel Harbin
It is real, but is it economically feasible or required to exist on public funding like most rail that transports people. Probably rely on public assistance like Amtrack which exists mainly for NE commuters and subsidized by the Federal tax dollars. So this is a boondoggle which will be a thorn in the side of California and the American tax payer.
S Michael
vaporware boondoggle. Why so we go down this stupid road? IF... it ever get off the ground it will cost a fortune. The cost from LA to SF will be high and it will take 4 to 6 hours. It has to stop to pick up passengers.
kurik
I am surprised by some of the comments here about the idea and tech. Every new tech initially costs alot to buy or use so that's on excuse not to try and implement something new. As the technology progresses and become more efficient the costs will eventually go down as they always do. Give it a chance ppl otherwise you would never have had a laptop/phone/car/etc..
George Strnad
Explain why we are watching about a bunch of grown men, in a room, giggling in the background as they do their checks? and then listening to a mouse of a man talking about how tough his wife is with a champagne bottle in his nervous hands, grasping it like it's, there's, a lot of pent up tension. We are looking at a magnetic train right? in a vaccuum? What's so revolutionary? that these guys didn't eat for 3 hours in a row? what am I missing here?