How far is the fifth mode of transportation from us?
Editor’s note: This article is from the micro-channel public number “love child norm” (ID: ifanr) , Author: Li Chaofan.
The speed is faster than that of a civil airliner. It takes only one hour from Beijing to Shanghai. When this kind of transportation becomes a reality, it will undoubtedly be an important breakthrough in the history of human transportation. It is exciting to think about it.
This is the “super high-speed rail” concept proposed by Musk in 2013. The use of vacuum pipes and magnetic levitation technology to achieve transportation at speeds of thousands of kilometers per hour was once considered the development direction of future transportation.
A US company called Hyperloop One (now renamed Virgin Hyperloop) has been trying to make this project a reality since 2016. Just a few days ago, Virgin Hyperloop’s “Hyperloop” announced the completion of its first manned test.
This seems to mean that the ground vehicle that is faster than an airplane is closer to us, but the “Super High Speed Rail” has been questioned since its inception.
In addition to Hyperloop One, there are several companies to promote similar projects. The “super high-speed rail” developed by China Aerospace Science and Industry, the ultimate goal is to achieve 4000 km/hSupersonic “Fly near the ground”.
However, no “super high-speed rail” project has reached a level close to commercial use. Is this disruptive transportation tool a technological innovation or a capital scam?
The “Super High Speed Rail” completed its first manned test, and there are still many problems to be solved
Last week in the desert of Las Vegas, USA, Virgin Hyperloop’s “Hyperloop” conducted its first manned test. The first two passengers on board were Josh Giegel, Chief Technology Officer of Virgin Hyperloop, and Passenger Experience Director Sara Luchian.
The capsule tested this time is the Pegasus Pod designed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. It can carry two passengers and is equipped with five-point seat belts commonly used in racing. Virgin Hyperloop hopes that the final capsule can accommodate 23 passengers. .
The test was carried out in a pipeline with a diameter of 3.3 meters and a length of 500 meters. It took 15 seconds to reach the end point during the actual test of the capsule, which is equivalent to a speed of 172 km/h.
This speed is not as good as the high-speed rail, and it is farther away from the Virgin Hyperloop’s envisioned speed of more than 1,000 kilometers per hour. It is said that this is because of the safety of passengers and the comfort of the ride. On the other hand, it is 500 meters. The tunnel is not enough to accelerate fully.
Nevertheless, Virgin Hyperloop still considers this to be an important milestone in the “Hyperloop”, calling it “An achievement like a moon landing,” CEO Jay Walder said:
This is a complete and functioning “super high-speed rail” that transports people in a vacuum environment. No other organization can do it yet.
As for the feeling of riding, Josh Giegel said that the feeling of acceleration is similar to that of an airplane taking off, while Sara Luchian said that “there is no feeling of riding a roller coaster at all,” and you will not feel discomfort even if you accelerate quickly.
In fact, Virgin Hyperloop has conducted more than 400 unmanned tests in this pipeline before this. The highest speed record to date is 386 km/h in the 2017 test.
For faster manned tests, a longer vacuum pipeline must be built. Virgin Hyperloop estimates that to accelerate to the envisaged 700 mph (1126 km/h), at least 2 kilometers of orbit are needed.
So not long ago Virgin Hyperloop announced that it would spend $500 million to build a test site in West Virginia. At the same time, it said that it will strive to obtain safety certification for the “super high-speed rail” in 2025 and put it into commercial operation in 2030.
As early as 2016, Virgin Hyperloop reached a cooperation with the Dubai Roads and Transportation Authority to plan to build a super high-speed rail linking Dubai and Abu Dhabi, which can shorten the journey time of more than one hour to 12 minutes.
At the beginning of this year, Virgin Hyperloop also announced plans for 11 super high-speed rail lines that may be constructed in the future. Apart