Swisspod, a Swiss-American company founded in 2019 by Romanian Denis Tudor and Cyril Dénéréaz, announced that it set a world record for the longest hyperloop journey, in collaboration with EPFL and HEIG-VD, at Europe's first hyperloop testing facility, located in Switzerland. The milestone was achieved within the LIMITLESS project funded by the Swiss government through Innosuisse grants and by Swisspod.

The LIMITLESS (Linear Induction Motor Drive for Traction and Levitation in Sustainable Hyperloop Systems) project, carried out by EPFL, the School of Business and Engineering Vaud (HEIG-VD), and Swisspod Technologies, aims at creating a sustainable and efficient future transportation system based on light infrastructure. 

The consortium achieved a significant milestone, completing the full-scale equivalent of a 141.6 km hyperloop journey (11.8 km on a reduced scale) and top speeds of up to 488.2 km/h (40.7 km/h on a reduced scale) within a controlled low-pressure environment. The results were recently unveiled during the Hyperloop Day event at EPFL.

"This world record was conducted at the hyperloop testing facility located at EPFL (Lausanne, Switzerland). This cutting-edge structure, designed as a circular loop track, supports the rapid prototyping and testing of different technologies required by the hyperloop. The infrastructure has a diameter of 40 centimeters and a circumference of 125.6 meters. It is a scaled-down version (1:12) of the hyperloop system described in the EPFL doctoral thesis of Denis Tudor, the CEO of Swisspod, allowing for a direct correlation between the test results and full-scale performance," reads the press release.

The experiment's success holds significant implications for the high-speed transportation sector, demonstrating key principles of hyperloop technology and its viability for the future of sustainable and fast travel, Siwsspod explained. Composed of two main elements, a fully electric vehicle and a low-pressure tube infrastructure, the hyperloop has the potential to disrupt intra-continental travel and be sustainable at the same time.

Within the LIMITLESS project, the team conducted a total of 82 tests. The experiments replicated a hyperloop capsule's trajectory within a controlled low-pressure environment operated at 50 millibars. 

The longest hyperloop mission covered a distance of 11.8 km, while the top speed achieved was 40.7 km/h. In a full-scale system, this directly translates to a journey of 141.6 km, which is about the distance between Geneva and Bern, or San Francisco to Sacramento, and speeds of up to 488.2 km/h.

The team monitored the performance of vital subsystems such as propulsion, communication infrastructure, power electronics, and thermal management. They assessed energy consumption, thrust variations, LIM response, and control during acceleration, cruising, coasting, and braking scenarios.

Future tests at the EPFL facility aim to further validate more efficient versions of the LIM-based hyperloop propulsion and levitation as well as explore the system's real-world capabilities, limitations, and prospects, while offering vital data for accelerating the path to market deployment, the company said.

Denis Tudor, the CEO of Swisspod, commented: "This milestone brings us closer to a future where hyperloop becomes a catalyst for societal change. Putting our years of technological innovation to the test is a critical step in pushing the development and deployment of efficient hyperloop technologies worldwide. We'll soon begin testing our first hyperloop freight transportation product at the larger-scale facility we're building in the US. This is a key step toward making hyperloop for passengers a reality and changing how we connect, work, and live."

Insights from the Swiss trials will drive advancements in hyperloop technology at Swisspod's facility in the US. This site is set to become the world's largest hub for hyperloop experimentation and the most cost-effective hyperloop system globally. Tests are scheduled to start in early 2025, aiming to validate the hyperloop system for real-world freight scenarios.

Located in the Pueblo Plex campus in Pueblo, Colorado, the full-scale facility mirrors its Swiss counterpart. The test track features a slightly elliptical closed loop, stretching across a diameter of 1.6 kilometers. Upon completion, it will cover an area of roughly 162,000 sqm, nearly three times the size of the Louvre and seven times larger than the Colosseum's base.

irina.marica@romania-insided.com

(Photo source: Swisspod)