China has been the foremost player or the innovator when it comes to Magnetic levitation technology, unveiling the first-kind high-speed maglev trains in the world, capable to pierce through at 600 km/hr. Now, the nation brings the technology to roads, as Maglev Car, wherein cars will be able to speed at hundreds of km/hr floating above the ground.
Chinese Researchers at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, Sichuan province, conducted road testing for modified passengers that use magnets to float 35millimeters above a conductor rail.
World’s first Maglev Cars
A magnetic levitating car weighing 2.8 tons was experimented to run smoothly on a highway without crashing or veering 35mm above the road. The cars were equipped with permanent magnet arrays for levitation and the road was laid with a powerful conductor rail that made the car to afloat.
Following that, the cars were indeed capable to achieve speeds of 200km/hr (124mph). Among the eight vehicles that were put into the study, maximum speeds touched 230 km/hr (142mph).
The tests were overseen by the transport authorities of the province to also study the road design and safety measures for practical high-speed driving.
Future Transportation
In view of curbing the carbon from getting freed to the atmosphere, world’s big step of attempting the shift to electric-vehicles from gasolines, magnetic levitation could really catalyst the change by solving the EV industry’s issue ‘range anxiety’, as the technology allows the vehicle to swift fast.
Deng Zigang, a professor at the University, said he hoped the technology could help reduce energy consumption and increase the driving range of cars.
China & Maglev Technology
The story of China and its magnetic levitation transport started way back in 2001, when China disclosed the First Maglev train called ‘Shanghai Maglev Train Line’ or ‘Shanghai Transrapid’, operating at a speed of 431kmph (268mph). Then in 2018, the country revealed the testing of a super maglev train expected to travel at speeds up to 1000kmph (621mph).
China then unveiled a maglev train designed to hit speeds of 600kmph (372mph), making it the fastest ground vehicle at the time in July 2021.
Just a year later, another debut of world’s first suspended maglev line, where the train hangs about 10 meters above the ground, without any physical contact with the rail. Taking 88 people on board, the train can literally float through air at 80kmph (50mph).
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The train is also highly efficient. Due to its unique free-floating conditions and absence of friction, it only requires a small amount of electricity to function. It also costs about a tenth of the price that it takes to build a subway.
With many innovations in the transportation realm, maglev cars had been added recently, with lots of futuristic travels yet to come.
(For more such interesting technology and innovative detailing, keep reading The Inner Detail).