Not only is it performing a first ever live public test of its propulsion system prototype, the company has rebranded Hyperloop Technologies as Hyperloop One to avoid being confused for similarly named Hyperloop Transportation Technologies. AECOM, AMBERG Group, ARCTURAN SUSTAINABLE CARGO, ARUP, Bjarke Ingels Group, Cargo Sous Terrain, Deutsche Bahn Engineering & Consulting, FS LINKS, GRID, KPMG and SYSTRA will join Hyperloop One to build the future of transportation.
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Hyperloop One, formerly known Hyperloop Technologies, announced its name change on Tuesday, hoping to differentiate itself from Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT), which has also made considerable headway in research and development of such a transportation system. “It’s real. It’s happening now”.
Both companies are based in Los Angeles and are working on models of the high-speed hyperloop train, which is composed of a pod and a vacuum tube and is said to transport passengers from San Francisco to L.A.in less than 30 minutes.
The propulsion technology featured in the Hyperloop consists of levitating pods, which utilize magnets and electricity to propel the vessels across low-friction surfaces. The tubes that the pods pass through can also be built underground, which would eliminate the risk of the system being affected by inclement weather.
Hyperloop is, of course, most commonly associated with Elon Musk, founder of – among other things – Tesla and SpaceX. Musk was busy building his electric vehicle and rooftop solar companies at the time, and offered the idea to whoever wanted to try it out. “But I doubt this specific piece of technology will have a dramatic effect on how we move people and goods in the near term”.
Hyperloop One’s ambitious plan is to start moving cargo by 2019, and carrying passengers by 2021.
The first Hyperloop One propulsion test will take place around 10:00 a.m. Wednesday in the Nevada Desert.
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The rebranded company also announced it has successfully raised another 80 million US dollars from the second round of financing to build Hyperloop and unveiled its new global partner ecosystem, featuring some of the world leaders in transportation engineering, architecture, infrastructure strategy and financing, construction and operations. It was rather like a proof of concept, much like the first airborne moments shared by the Wright Brothers in their airplane.
