On 23rd August 2021, Virgin Hyperloop launched a promotional video explaining how its futuristic high-speed transportation system will work in several cities.
In November, the company, an arm of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, successfully tested out its hyperloop system with human passengers. The vehicles, referred to as “pods,” will eventually be able to seat up to 28 passengers at speeds of over 670 mph (over 1000 km/h) — three times faster than high-speed trains and ten times faster than traditional rail options.
Their Twitter handle posted a video; Virgin Hyperloop shows that the system starts with a “near-vacuum environment inside a tube” that facilitates high speeds and low power consumption by reducing aerodynamic drag. Then, pods will travel quietly using “proprietary magnetic levitation and propulsion” that lifts and guides pods on a track and allows several pods to depart per minute across different routes.
The hyperloop system also aims to have a lower environmental impact than other modes of transportation using solar panels and 100 per cent electric energy.
“After building and testing the world’s first hyperloop system, we are now focused on our commercial product; the key to our product is guided by a design that is elegant through its simplicity, future-proof due to its modularity, guided by principles of this century,” said the company in that video.
