Hyperloop One announced that it succeeded in making a vehicle travel at 70mph for five seconds using magnetic levitation.
The test took place back on May 12 at its 500-meter-long DevLoop test track in the Nevada desert.
Hyperloop is a transport system that uses a custom electric motor to propel a pod-like vehicle through a low-pressure tube.
The company’s next round of testing will increase the speed up to 250 mph, before aiming for 750mph. Its goal is to transport passengers and/or cargo at airline speeds at a fraction of the cost of air travel.
Musk previously described the concept as “a cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table”.
“Hyperloop One has accomplished what no one has done before by successfully testing the first full-scale Hyperloop system. By achieving full vacuum, we essentially invented our own sky in a tube, as if you’re flying at 200,000 feet in the air,” said Shervin Pishevar, Hyperloop One’s co-founder and executive chairman.
“For the first time in over 100 years, a new mode of transportation has been introduced. Hyperloop is real, and it’s here now.”
Hyperloop One has raised over $160 million in financing for development.
Its goal is to have a fully operational Hyperloop system up and running by 2020.
Last month the company unveiled nine potential European routes, spanning 5,000 kilometers, connecting over 75 million people in 44 cities.
“Our vision is to, one day, connect all of Europe with our Hyperloop One system, networking the entire Continent,” said Shervin Pishevar, co-founder and executive chairman of Hyperloop One.
