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Scientists have completed the longest journey ever with a vacuum capsule in Europe’s first operational Hyperloop test facility on the EPFL campus. This technology aims to revolutionize intracontinental transport.
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November 5, 2024 – 11:55 am
(Keystone-ATS) Of the 82 tests carried out as part of the LIMITLESS project led by EPFL, the Haute Ecole d’Ingénierie et de Gestion du Canton de Vaud, and the Swisspod company, the longest distance traveled was 11.8 km. The maximum speed reached was 40.7 km/h.
“In a full-scale system, this translates into a journey of 141.6 km, approximately the distance between Geneva and Bern (…) and by speeds of up to 488.2 km/h”, underlined the EPFL Tuesday in a press release. She called this success “defining for the high-speed transport sector”.
A crucial engine
Hyperloop technology relies on ultra-fast convoys circulating under vacuum, without friction and with much lower air resistance than in open air. The testing infrastructure consists of a “circular track” with a diameter of 40 centimeters and a circumference of 125.6 meters. This is a reduced version (1:12) of the Hyperloop system described in the EPFL doctoral thesis by Denis Tudor, CEO of Swisspod.
The Hyperloop is made up of two main elements, namely a fully electric vehicle and a low-pressure tube infrastructure, explains EPFL. To reduce the cost, the idea is that it is not the infrastructure, but the vehicle which transports the energy necessary for its propulsion.
“Most efforts are focused on the development of a new linear induction motor (LIM), a key component of the Hyperloop propulsion system, designed to provide better performance at high speeds,” continues the high school.
Transportation of goods
The next tests planned at EPFL will aim to validate more efficient versions of the propulsion and levitation of the Hyperloop, based on the LIM, as well as to explore the capabilities, limits and prospects of the system in the real world, while providing essential data to accelerate market deployment, the press release further indicates.
Hyperloop freight transport tests are due to take place in the coming years in the United States. “This is a key step in making the Hyperloop a reality for transporting people and changing the way we connect, work and live,” said Denis Tudor, quoted in the press release.
