![]() ![]() “Batteries are getting better,” says Wieler, “But you probably need an order of magnitude improvement” for the kind of hybrid levitating car Henderson envisions. According to James Wieler, former VP of engineering for longtime maglev developer Magnemotion, “40 watts per kilogram is a killer in terms of transportation.” By contrast, the M3 maglev system that Magnemotion piloted was able to levitate over 10,000 pounds with a hundred watts.Īnd all of the Arx Pax’s energy has to come from on-board batteries. Arx Pax’s hover engine is power-hungry, needing 40 watts of energy to levitate one kilogram. all the freedom of a car and all the efficiency of a train.”īut this futuristic dream of roads full of flying cars faces some obstacles. According to Henderson, this points towards “a new type of vehicle, a hybrid vehicle that can drive conventionally, or can hover. One of Arx Pax’s prototypes is a scaled-down hover vehicle called the Manta Ray, which zigs and zags as neatly as a remote control car. ![]() The Arx Pax engine can also generate thrust and directional control magnetically, so it doesn’t need a track for guidance. ![]() Even more impressive, the surface can be multi-use-for instance, a roadway consisting of a layer of asphalt over copper could accommodate both maglev and conventional vehicles. This means systems of any scale could be laid quickly and cheaply. In a 2012 report, the Federal Transit Administration found that these costs, which it characterized as “intimidating,” were a major barrier to maglev adoption in the U.S.īut Arx Pax’s magnetic engine is entirely contained within the object being levitated, and the only required infrastructure is a conductive surface, such as the copper-lined halfpipe used to demo the hoverboard. According to CEO Greg Henderson, the technology that makes the hoverboard possible-a new kind of magnetic levitation that Arx Pax labels Magnetic Field Architecture-has wide-ranging, transformative implications.Īrx Pax’s system is potentially much less expensive than existing maglev systems, which rely on complex electromagnetic systems in both vehicle and tracks and can cost tens of millions of dollars per mile.ĭespite its widely acknowledged advantages in safety, speed, and efficiency in transit applications, governments and transit authorities have been extremely slow to adopt maglev due to cost. But the hoverboard is just a first step for Arx Pax. ![]()
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