By Wayne Heilman
A Swiss startup company hopes to begin testing its technology next year on what eventually will become a mile-long high-speed hyperloop transportation system track east of Pueblo after completing a 7.3-mile test earlier this year in Switzerland.
Swisspod Technologies completed the longest hyperloop test in May at a 412-foot, 1/12th scale track it built in Lausanne, Switzerland, to demonstrate its technology using a two-passenger capsule outfitted with linear induction motors, viable for both cargo and passenger transportation. The company says the test shows the full-size version of the system, and it could complete an 88-mile trip at speeds of more than 300 mph.
The test was performed by Project LIMITLESS, an acronym for Linear Induction Motor Drive for Traction and Levitation in Sustainable Hyperloop Systems, and is a partnership of Swisspod, the Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and the School of Business and Engineering Vaud in Switzerland. The capsule traveled at about 25 mph, making about 100 loops around the track, to monitor systems ranging from propulsion to communications.
The test track in PuebloPlex, an industrial park on the grounds of the former Pueblo Chemical Depot, will employ up to 15 people to test full-sized versions of the passenger capsules. The test track is an elevated tube that is 0.25 miles long and will double in size next year, Swisspod CEO Denis Tudor says. The company plans to expand the track to a mile within three years after raising $40 million to build the one-mile track and several smaller tracks.
“This [hyperloop system] is the future of transportation – both for passengers and cargo,” Tudor says. The PuebloPlex site will be Swisspod’s “certification center for our technology and to help us scale the technology using full-size equipment and infrastructure.”
Swisspod has raised $15 million so far for construction of the PuebloPlex test track from a $9 million Swiss government grant and investors that include space-focused New York venture capital fund Seldor Capital, Chicago-based venture fund MDL Investments, Swiss private equity group Ace & Co., Polysys Industries in the United Arab Emirates and others from Miami and Cincinnati. Tudor hopes to close on another $4 million in financing by the end of next year.
According to Tudor, the capsule design is nearly complete and the company plans to announce early next year where in Colorado it will assemble them – he is negotiating a lease for manufacturing space but declined to disclose the location. The capsules are the key to the hyperloop system; they are equipped with a propulsion system and can be attached to each other like railroad cars to transport 10 to 15 passengers on each trip.
Hyperloop technology was described in a 2013 white paper authored by billionaire Elon Musk as a “fifth mode of transportation,” using electro-magnetic propulsion to send a capsule through a tube within or between cities. Most other startups trying to develop a hyperloop system have shut down for a variety of reasons, and Musk wants to use tunnels once planned for hyperloop systems instead for his autonomous taxis.
The technology used by Swisspod was pioneered by Swiss professor Marcel Juffer in the 1970s. EPFL teams that were co-founded by Tudor won several awards during Musk’s annual Hyperloop Pod Competitions in 2016, 2017 and 2018. They won Best Design, Best Innovation, Best Engineering and third place for speed. After a conversation with Musk, Tudor co-founded Swisspod with Cyril Dénéréaz, an EPFL classmate who would become chief technical officer of the startup.
The test track, under construction on a 43-acre site in PuebloPlex is a partnership with the Transportation Test Center, part of the American Association of Railroads, which will provide engineering insight, operational and test plan support.
Swisspod has signed a memorandum of understanding to build a 50-mile hyperloop system to connect Noida International Airport to downtown Delhi, as well as a letter of intent with Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) to use Swisspod’s capsule on SBB rail network. He said the system in India will take five years to complete, while SBB wants to use the capsule to provide a faster and more energy-efficient method of transportation.
The company sponsored an open house on Nov. 20 at PuebloPlex to show off the test track to state, regional and local leaders.
