Toronto-based TransPod, which is working on creating a hyperloop, announced a partnership that gives the company an advantage in a vertical that has countless teams across the world working on creating the world’s first hyperloop.
TransPod is partnering with Mersen, a global company that works in electrical power and advanced materials. As Mersen works in optimizing manufacturing performance for its clients, TransPod is looking to leverage Mersen’s experience to develop new cooling technology designed specifically for transportation in a vacuum environment. Mersen has 6,400 employees working across 35 countries.
“Our current options for transportation are expensive, slow, and environmentally harmful,” said Sebastien Gendron, founder and CEO of TransPod. “With hyperloop, we will be able to connect people, cities, and businesses with high-speed transportation that is affordable and sustainable so we can travel further in less time, speed up the exchange of goods, and create opportunities for in-city growth. This partnership leverages Mersen’s leading-edge capabilities to make this a reality.”
While the hyperloop is a completely new concept of transportation, Gendron has said in the past that it doesn’t require as much proprietary technology as most people think, calling it a hybrid between an aircraft and a train. “It’s really the way we put it together which can make it work,” Gendron told BetaKit. “It’s so different that regular players like Bombardier and Boeing won’t take the risk to start doing it so there’s room for a startup company to work on that.”
TransPod has already designed a first half-scale prototype, and will present a full-scale concept at the InnoTrans Rail show in September 2016 in Berlin.
