A team of German students have won the third annual SpaceX Hyperloop contention – their third win in a row – and place a newfangled Hyperloop book in the process .
WARR Hyperloop from the Technical University of Munichbeat two other finalistswith a top speed of 457 kilometre ( 284 miles ) per time of day , about half the upper of a gargantuan spurt . They were testing their pods in a underground 1.2 kilometers ( 0.75 naut mi ) long at SpaceX ’s headquarters in Hawthorne , California on Sunday , July 22 .
The seedpod journey 50 percent quicker than theprevious top speedset by WARR in the last competition in August 2017 . Their pull ahead focal ratio in the inaugural competition in January 2017 was just 93 klick / h ( 58 mph ) , so they ’ve achieved a pretty impressive increase in a year and a half .
hundred of students from around the public gathered to see the event . WARR were up against Delft University from the Netherlands and EPF Loop from Switzerland , both of whom struggled to get anywhere near WARR ’s focal ratio . Delft University set a speed of just 142 km / h ( 88 miles per hour ) before stall , while EPF Loop was only able to attain speeds of 89 klick / henry ( 55 miles per hour ) .
To win the competition , the seedpod must be self - propelled and speed up from a standstill . The pods are magnetically levitated on a rails , with maximal amphetamine down the burrow the ultimate goal .
While WARR now obtain the ecumenical Hyperloop criminal record , their seedpod is just 30 cm ( 12 inches ) eminent and 2 cadence ( 7 feet ) long . In December 2017 , afull - sized podfrom Virgin Hyperloop One arrive at a swiftness of 387 km / h ( 240 mph).New Atlasdescribed the two as “ apples and orange ” .
But WARR see its pod as a demonstration of what could be possible . In apress releaseprior to the event , they said they had been hoping to give 600 kilometer / hydrogen ( 370 miles per hour ) , but their final speeding of 457 km / h is still impressive considering the challenges .
“ [ T]he pod has to speed to full speed and then brake again within this distance , ” they say . “ This is a mammoth challenge : Our seedpod accelerates five times faster than an airplane during take - off . ”
The ultimate goal of Hyperloop , as first proposed by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in 2013 , is to send pods in vacuum - sucked subway system at amphetamine of up to 1,200 km / h ( 745 mph ) , enable travel between cities in minute of arc rather than hours .
Multiple efforts , include SpaceX ’s competition , Virgin Hyperloop One , and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies , are now being made to accomplish this finish . This previous record book is another tentative step towards making Hyperloop a world .
