After the first test with human passengers last November, Virgin showed in a video what the experience of traveling is like Hyperloop, the ultra-fast transport system by magnetic levitation in tubes that could reach in near vacuum conditions speeds close to 1,200 kilometers per hour, faster than on a plane, and without being exposed to bad weather.
The video the company posted on YouTube shows the designs developed by several companies – Bjarke Ingels Group (portals), Teague (capsule), See Three (video) and Man Made Music (sound) – for this project and what the arrival of the passenger to the capsules, their departure, the journey and arrival at the stations.
This concept shows that several capsules are leaving and apparently with a maximum speed of more than 1,000 kilometers per hour, something like that achieved without requiring passengers to be secured to the seat with a special high-tech seat belt.
Hyperloop is a new means of transport consisting of a low-pressure hose and a magnetic levitation system along with an electric linear motor that moves a capsule to transport people or cargo.
Hyperloop capsules can accommodate 28 people. Photo: Virgin Hyperloop.
The low air resistance and the absence of friction allow vehicles to drive at very high speeds with minimal energy consumption.
Jay Walder, CEO of Virgin Hyperloop the viability of the Hyperloop depends on the cost of each trip: “It’s very easy. If it’s not affordable, people won’t use it.” “Today, high-speed transportation on a daily basis isn’t affordable for most people,” he says, “but we want to change that idea. you can travel between cities in minutes instead of hours like now: how many possibilities would that create!
Each capsule that Virgin designed has a capacity of 28 passengers, but the fact that it could form convoys of several of them traveling a few milliseconds apart, controlled by artificial intelligence, would make it possible to transport several to the airport. the same time.
The concept of hyperloop that Virgin wants to promote in terms of people and cargo mobility. Photo: Virgin Hyperloop.
Hyperloop: Elon Musk’s idea that made Virgin possible
The idea for the floating version of the bullet train, called the Hyperloop, came up during a conversation between Elon Musk and Iranian-American Silicon Valley investor Shervin Pishevar, owner of Virgin, when they flew to Cuba together on a humanitarian mission. there in January 2012 ..
At the time, Pishevar asked the owner of Tesla and Space X to develop the concept of the Hyperloop as a new and revolutionary form of transportation. Pishevar had seen it as a charging medium, while Musk had other ideas about it..
Finally, Hyperloop was launched by Elon Musk in July 2013 and defined his project as “a mix of a Concorde, a railgun and a table hockey game”.
A month later he gave an official presentation, in which he gave the first technical details on how it should work and showed the first designs of his capsules. But he clarified that the project would not be part of his space company Space X.
La terminal Hyperloop de Virgin. Photo: Virgin Hyperloop.
One of the most relevant aspects of Hyperloop is that it is an open hardware project. This is similar to the concept of open source software, but in the world of hardware: anyone can accept the designs that other companies create and improve themselves to try to optimize them in a way that benefits everyone, as other companies can also use these improvements.
While many of these proposals were used by Elon Musk satellite companies to test them, the open hardware nature also allows others to see what they are doing and venture to improve it on their part. In this way, Virgin decided to create a strong investment to realize the project.
In 2018, HyperloopTT was commissioned, together with Illinois state authorities, to conduct a feasibility study of a route between these three North American cities, with favorable results, and it is already conducting large-scale testing in France to gain coverage certifications and security, as well as optimizing and fully integrating the technical components of the system.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk was the predecessor of the Hyperloop project with an open hardware license.
The company is also operating the world’s first commercial hyperloop system in Abu Dhabi, UAE, with a length of between three and five kilometers.
The hyperloop system will be built primarily on stilts, some segments above the surface and others underground, as required, and has the ability to withstand seismic activity and thermal expansion.
Virgin Hyperloop plans to obtain European Union and United States security certifications by 2025 to operate commercially by 2030. The Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport of the European Commission (Dgmove) has held working meetings with several hyperloop subsidiaries over the past two years and is now conducting a security investigation.
Meanwhile, last year in the United States, the federal government announced the creation of a certification center for this system in the state of Virginia, which will employ approximately 13,000 people.
SL