China to take on Elon Musk’s Hyperloop with plans for a new ‘supersonic’ train that also uses vacuum tubes to propel passengers
- Geely and China’s state-owned high-tech firm are developing ‘supersonic’ trains
- The rail line system would closely mirror that of Elon Musk’s Hyperloop by delivering passengers in trains that can reach speeds of up to 620 mph
- It would use magnetic levitation to create a ‘hypersonic’ mode of transportation
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The company behind Volvo has inked a deal with China’s state-owned high-tech firm to develop ‘supersonic trains.’
Geely and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp. (CASIC) will work together to build the system, which is expected to closely mirror the long-awaited Hyperloop technology envisioned by tech moguls like Elon Musk and Richard Branson.
China already runs the world’s longest high-speed rail line and is looking to build its own supersonic transport network.
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Geely and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp. (CASIC) will work together to build the system, which is expected to closely mirror the long-awaited Hyperloop technology envisioned by tech moguls like Elon Musk and Richard Branson
The agreement was signed Tuesday at an aerospace industry show in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai.
Plans for the partnership describe combining two technologies – magnetic levitation to eliminate ground friction and vacuum tubes to reduce air resistance – to create a ‘hypersonic’ mode of transportation, Geely said in a statement.
CASIC is working on a system that can shuttle trains at a maximum speed of 1,000 kph (620 mph) and studying technologies that could go as fast at 4,000 kph in the future.
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‘Core technology can’t be bought,’ Geely chairman Li Shufu said at the air show, according to Bloomberg.
‘The more you use others’ technology, the more reliant you become. We have to innovate on our own.
‘The journey will be tough but the prospects are promising,’ Shufu explained.
Pictured is a mockup of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies’ high-speed rail system set to arrive in a southern Chinese city. Geely and CASIC’s design will take after this, using magnetic levitation to eliminate ground friction and vacuum tubes to reduce air resistance
Geely chairman Li Shufu (pictured) said the firm must ‘innovate on our own’ and build its own Hyperloop technology. Several startups around the world are vying to make the tech a reality
Geely and CASIC will ‘pool their capabilities’, the statement said, but it did not give details on their investment in the joint effort or a timeframe.
‘Technologies developed through the realization of supersonic trains will help Geely Holding advance the fields of new energy vehicles, automotive safety, and new material science,’ the statement said.
They’re likely to face many of the same challenges encountered by other startups that have looked into developing Hyperloop systems based around magnetic levitation.
Many haven’t figured out issues around passenger safety and proving the new technology.
However, many firms continue to charge ahead with bringing their Hyperloop systems to fruition.
The Hyperloop idea was unveiled by Elon Musk in 2013, who at the time said it could take passengers the 380 miles (610km) from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes – half the time it takes a plane.
It is essentially a long tube that has had the air removed to create a vacuum.
The ‘heartland hyperloop’ would run along the I-70 corridor, the major highway traversing Missouri, and would connect Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis.
WHAT IS THE HYPERLOOP?
Hyperloop is a proposed method of travel that would transport people at roughly 700mph between distant locations.
It was unveiled by Elon Musk in 2013, who at the time said it could take passengers the 380 miles (610km) from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes – half the time it takes a plane.
It is essentially a long tube that has had the air removed to create a vacuum. For safety reasons, Hyperloop tunnels need escape hatches in case of fire.
The tube is suspended off the ground to protect against weather and earthquakes.
There are now a number of firms vying to bring the technology to life, including Elon Musk himself, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, and Virgin Hyperloop One.
As several firms vie to create the first operational Hyperloop, Elon Musk’s vision of a radical transport system that could ferry passengers above land at 760 miles per hour continues to inch closer to reality
The tube is suspended off the ground to protect against weather and earthquakes.
Branson’s Virgin Hyperloop One last month announced plans to build a track in Missouri, on top of its working track in Nevada.
The Missouri system would transport people at roughly 700mph between distant locations through closed off vacuum tubes.
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT), one of the companies vying to make Elon Musk’s vision of futuristic transport a reality, unveiled its first full-size, passenger-carrying pod in Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain last month.
It could be in operation as soon as 2019, ferrying passengers at near-supersonic speeds of up to 760mph.
Another startup vying to make Hyperloop a reality is Arrivo.
Arrivo is working with officials in Colorado on a Hyperloop-inspired system in downtown Denver.
The firm has also entered a partnership with a state-run investment entity to pursue projects in China and around the world.
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