Virgin Hyperloop has released a new concept video explaining its ambitious project that would allow passengers to travel at 1000 kmph. The US transportation technology company has termed it a new form of mass transportation that will “set the standard for 21st-century travel” by allowing passengers to travel between cities within minutes.
The design of the tube, with a near-vacuum environment inside, virtually eliminates aerodynamic drag, allowing battery-powered pods to glide at speeds up to 670 mph (1078 kmph), according to the company. The engine of the hyperloop contains arrays of electromagnets that lift and guide the pod within the track, the company explained in the video.
The pods carrying passengers are not physically connected and can split off while the rest of the convoy continues on a different path, allowing individual pods to have different destinations, Virgin Hyperloop claimed.
“These next-generation innovations not only enable ultra-fast speeds but provide on-demand direct-to-destination service carrying tens of thousands of passengers per hour per direction at aeroplane speed with zero direct emissions,” the narrator explains.
Last November, Virgin Hyperloop tested human travel in a high-speed levitating pod system for the first time. The passenger ride took place at Virgin Hyperloop’s 500-metre test site in Las Vegas. Virgin Hyperloop co-founder Josh Giegel and the company’s director of passenger experience, Sara Luchian, were the first people in the world to ride on this new form of transportation.
The landmark $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by the US Senate earlier this month includes provisions that will support further development and deployment of hyperloop. Hyperloop technology will now be eligible for federal funding under this legislation.
“We applaud the bipartisan group of Senators and President Biden for their tireless work to advance the legislative process and bring a bill to the Senate floor, as well as Committee leaders who advocated to ensure hyperloop was part of this monumental legislation,” Giegel said in a statement.
