RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A flight from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro takes approximately 50 minutes. By car, it takes no less than five hours. But a new means of transport, called the Hyperloop, pledges to cover the same route in less than 25 minutes.
The technology, created by billionaire Elon Musk, founder of electric car manufacturer Tesla, is being implemented in a number of countries and, according to the CEO of Hyperloop TT, one of the companies developing the project, it could reach Brazil in 2025.
“Brazil should figure in the second round of investments, scheduled for five years from now,” says Dirk Ahlborn, the company’s founder and CEO, who will come to Brazil in March to take part in CIO Lab, a technology event promoted by Experience Club. The building of Hyperloop TT’s first venture will begin this year, in Abu Dhabi, the Arab Emirates.
Currently, the CEO is working to enable partnerships with the private sector and make the project a reality in the country. According to Ahlborn, Hyperloop is most likely to be financed by companies, rather than the government.
Without mentioning names, he states that there are advanced talks with infrastructure companies and highway concessionaires. “Hyperloop uses existing infrastructure. It is possible to use the highways, for instance,” Ahlborn says.
Hyperloop TT has attempted to initiate talks with state governments, but these have not progressed. Ahlborn mentions difficulties in negotiating with the government of João Dória, in São Paulo. Two years ago, the company was close to building an innovation center in Belo Horizonte, but the plans sank for lack of public funding.
A further obstacle to the project’s implementation is legislation. There must be specific regulation for this transport method. According to Ahlborn, the company has been talking to the Federal Government and expects some progress this year.
Hyperloop’s concept is to reproduce on the ground the same conditions found by planes in altitude. The transport is performed by capsules that travel inside a low atmospheric pressure tube. Instead of rails, there is a magnetic system, which makes the capsules float inside the tubes.
Without the friction of wind or rails, the capsules reach speeds that can exceed 1,000 km/h, with low power consumption. “Ideally, the system should not be buried, like the subway, to harness solar power,” says Ahlborn.
In 2013, Musk released the technology’s intellectual property for other companies to develop it. The project attracted investors like Virgin billionaire Richard Branson, who created Hyperloop One, a competitor of Hyperloop TT.
A trip from Rio to São Paulo using this system, even considering the terrain’s unevenness, would take less than 25 minutes, according to Ricardo Penzin, director of Hyperloop TT in Latin America.
Despite being attractive, the route between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro should not be the first to host the Hyperloop. Most likely, a shorter route, such as the one between São Paulo and Campinas, which would take only six minutes, will be feasible earlier.
Source: Exame