Transportation history was made on Sunday in the Nevada desert, where Virgin Hyperloop tested human travel in a hyperloop pod for the first time.
In a hyperloop system, a trip between New York and Washington would take 30 minutes, four times faster than a high-speed train.
For the past few years, the Virgin Hyperloop team has been working on turning its ground breaking technology, the hyperloop pod, into reality.
Josh Giegel, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, and Sara Luchian, Director of Passenger Experience, were the first people in the world to ride on this new form of transportation.
The test took place at Virgin Hyperloop’s 500 meter DevLoop test site in Las Vegas, where the company has previously run over 400 un-occupied tests.
“When we started in a garage over 6 years ago, the goal was simple – to transform the way people move.
“Today, we took one giant leap toward that ultimate dream, not only for me, but for all of us who are looking towards a moonshot right here on Earth,” said Giegel.
The occupants made their maiden voyage on the newly-unveiled XP-2 vehicle, designed by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group and Kilo Design, which was custom-built with occupant safety and comfort in mind.
While the production vehicle will be larger and seat up to 28 passengers, the 2-seater XP-2 vehicle was built to demonstrate that passengers can in fact safely travel in a hyperloop vehicle.
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“Hyperloop is about so much more than the technology. It’s about what it enables.
“To me, the passenger experience ties it all together. And what better way to design the future than to actually experience it first-hand?” Luchian said.
The XP-2 vehicle demonstrates many of the safety-critical systems that will be found on a commercial hyperloop system.
It is equipped with a state-of-the-art control system that can detect off-nominal states and rapidly trigger appropriate emergency responses.
“I can’t tell you how often I get asked ‘is hyperloop safe? With today’s passenger testing, we have successfully answered this question, demonstrating that not only can Virgin Hyperloop safely put a person in a pod in a vacuum environment, but that the company has a thoughtful approach to safety which has been validated by an independent third party,” said Jay Walder, CEO of Virgin Hyperloop.