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Forget jetpacks and flying cars. Today’s futuristic transportation dreams are dominated by the hyperloop—an enormous pneumatic tube designed to carry electric-powered, levitating cars at very high speeds. Hyperloop One is one of companies racing to create a feasible hyperloop design, and now they’ve revealed the first videos of their XP-1 prototype pod zooming through a Nevada test track.
The 28-foot-long aluminum and carbon fiber pod was loaded into the 1,600-foot-long tube. With the air sucked out to remove friction, the pod accelerated to 192 mph in roughly 5 seconds. Then the vehicle’s 16 wheels retracted, leaving the pod frictionlessly floating along the remainder of its journey using magnetic levitation (mag-lev) until it braked and decelerated to a gentle stop. It’s an exciting step in the journey, but still a long way from reaching the 745 mph speed touted by hyperloop evangelist Elon Musk.
"This is the beginning, and the dawn of a new era of transportation," said Shervin Pishevar, Executive Chairman and Co-founder of Hyperloop One. "We've reached historic speeds of 310 km an hour, and we're excited to finally show the world the XP-1 going into the Hyperloop One tube. When you hear the sound of the Hyperloop One, you hear the sound of the future." Stay tuned.