Permanent magnets installed in the vehicle allow the car to fly over the road at a speed of 230 km/h.
A car equipped with magnetic levitation technology has successfully passed highway tests in Jiangsu Province, China. During the experiment, a car weighing 2.8 tons hovered at a height of 35 millimeters above the road.
A second road test was also conducted, during which the cars accelerated to 200 km/h. A total of eight cars were tested on a 7.9 km stretch of highway with a maximum speed of 230 kilometers per hour.
The tests were carried out under the supervision of the transport authorities and were aimed at studying road construction and safety measures for practical high-speed driving.
The magnetic suspension car was modified from a conventional vehicle in a project developed by Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu. The installation of permanent magnet arrays for levitation was one of the few changes made to the vehicle.
The road was paved with a powerful conductor rail that allowed the car to levitate. Dan Jigang, a professor at the university, hopes the technology will help reduce energy consumption and increase the range of cars.
The project is to create a dedicated lane for cars on magnetic suspension, which will help lead to further traffic improvements.
