The Dutch Delft Hyperloop student team managed to achieve a speed of 360 km/hour, on an open test track in Hilversum.
The team managed to significantly increase its speed compared to last year’s record, which was 202 km/hour.
With a whopping 360 km/h we broke our record!👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/rEAxfUXaFV
— Delft Hyperloop (@DelftHyperloop) July 19, 2020
Last year’s record was achieved during the official annual hyperloop contest in a vacuum tube. By comparison, this year was in an open field, on a 368 meter-long test track in Hilversum.
This year’s Atlas04 capsule did not enter the official competition by SpaceX, reports Tweakers. Partly because of the coronavirus crisis, the 2020 SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition did not take place. This year’s edition should have taken place in a 10 kilometer-long tunnel with bends, to simulate the circumstances of an actual hyperloop. The tunnel has not yet been constructed, so the competition is stalling until it is done.
The Atlas04 built by the Delft team still uses wheels, but the final product will use magnets instead so that rolling resistance will be eliminated. Air resistance will also no longer be a problem as the tunnel will function as a vacuum. If all goes well, the hyperloop will be able to travel with speeds of up to 1000 km/hour.
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Feature Image: Z22/Wikimedia Commons
