Hyperloop Crosses 200MPH, Three Teams Fought For The Best Pod Design

Short Bytes: WARR Hyperloop, a team based out of Germany took the Hyperlood Pod’s speed to another level during a competition that happened on Sunday. Their carbon fiber Pod crossed 200MPH mark and defeated other two finalists by a considerable edge. It could be possible that the Pods could break 310MPH mark in the future.

Germany’s WARR Hyperloop, Switzerland’s Swissloop, and Paradigm from North America were the three finalist student teams that took part in the second Hyperloop Pod design competition.

On Sunday, the race for the fastest Hyperloop Pod took place in a new tube, having a length of almost a mile, built at SpaceX factory campus in Hawthorne, CA, reports The Verge.

WARR Hyperloop managed to take their carbon-fiber-based futuristic carriage beyond 200 MPH (or 324Km/h). The team manifested their caliber in the previous competition held in January this year when their Pod crossed 58MPH.

Hyperloop pod run by team WARR pic.twitter.com/ntaMsoxkZE

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 28, 2017

The winning team’s Pod, featuring air bearings as mentioned in Hyperloop’s white paper, received appraisal from Elon Musk and company for their design including a lightweight 176lb frame and electric motor.

In fact, it was only WARR which attempted to run their Pod at speeds this high. WARR’s design gave them an edge over the competitors whose Pod failed to deliver performance in the vacuumed tube used in the competition.

Elon Musk, however, didn’t fail to mention that there is still a scope for improvement. And by making necessary advancements, it’s possible to cross 500km/h in the same tube. SpaceX would be hosting the third instance of the Hyperloop Pod design competition next year where hopefully the team would pass the next speed goal set by Musk.

It’s great to hear that student-led efforts of this kind are helping Hyperloop explore new ways to make their next-gen transportation system faster. It may arrive for the general public sooner than expected. Earlier this year, Hyperloop One conducted their first official speed test reaching 112km/hr.