The First Full-Scale Hyperloop Passenger Capsule Has Arrived

It'll be ready for passengers in 2019.

Pod People

We've seen more sketches and animated demo videos of hyperloops than we can count. But now, one of leaders of the industry has finally shown us something we can touch.

During a ceremony in Spain on Tuesday, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT) unveiled the Quintero One, a pod designed to whisk passengers across vast distances, through depressurized tubes, as part of the high-tech transportation system of the future.

The company also released a video detailing the manufacturing of the capsule on the same day.

 

The Deets

Quintero One is 32 meters (105 feet) long, weighs 5,000 kilograms (5.5 tons), and took 5,000 hours to assemble. HyperloopTT constructed it almost entirely out of a custom-built, super-strong, super-light smart material containing a combination of carbon fiber and embedded sensors. These sensors can wirelessly transmit information on everything from temperature to stability in real-time while the capsule is in operation.

On the Move

Next stop for the capsule is HyperloopTT’s research and development center in Toulouse, France, so the company can integrate it into a hyperloop system. According to Bibop Gresta, HyperloopTT's chairman and co-founder, it will be ready for passengers by 2019.

That's assuming the company has a hyperloop in place to support it, of course.

The idea of a hyperloop has been floating around since Elon Musk first posed the concept back in 2013, and HyperloopTT is just one of several companies developing the technology.

Despite all the hype, though, we still don't have a hyperloop. But hey, at least this pod's a step in the right direction.

READ MORE: First Hyperloop Passenger Capsule Unveiled [Bloomberg]

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