Hyperloop One has successfully tested its levitating electromagnetic motor for future transport systems at a track in Nevada, USA.
The company's electromagnetic sled reached 187kph, as reported by The Guardian, on a short open-air test track before ploughing into a pile of sand – necessary, as the test rig doesn't currently have any brakes. The test, which lasted just a few seconds, was the first demonstration of the much-hyped transportation technology.
It's a small step towards the technology's theorised speeds of 745mph (1,200kph), or Hyperloop One's promised surface speeds in excess of 300m/s (1,080kph).
Hyperloop One – until recently named Hyperloop Technologies – is one of three companies striving to build a hyperloop transport system. The company recently received an extra $80 million (£55.3 million) in funding.
Originally proposed by Elon Musk, the transportation technology is based on the idea of pods propelled through a tube system. Magnetic and air levitation propulsion systems have both been proposed, requiring both of which call for low-pressure environments in the tubes to minimise resistance. While engineers from Tesla and SpaceX originally worked on the design, it was then released as an open source technology for others to use and build on.
Also working on hyperloop projects are Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTTP), a US-based group of engineers that recently announced its acquisition of an exclusive licence to use a new passive magnetic levitation technology in its system.
A third company, Toronto-based Transpod, plans to present a full-scale hyperloop concept vehicle at this year's InnoTrains Rail show in Berlin.
Neither Musk nor SpaceX is affiliated with any of the companies currently developing hyperloop transport systems, but in order to "accelerate development of a functional Hyperloop prototype", SpaceX has been running a competition to design hyperloop pods, to be trialled this summer on its own test track.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
