Towards tomorrow’s transport
A deep-tech company developing high-performance batteries. Ever since a group of young Spanish entrepreneurs took part in Elon Musk’s ‘Hyperloop Pod Competition’ in 2015 their company Zeleros has been busy developing a hyperloop. European funding is further diversifying its portfolio. On the way to a pneumatic tube system the firm is also creating a transhipment facility geared to port logistics, which is due to start test operations this year.
The cumbersome name ‘Hub-dCO2 Perte-Vec’ only inadequately describes a mobility project that the Spanish industry ministry has initiated. It is worth no less than EUR 50 million and is additionally supported by funding from the ‘Next Generation EU’ fund.
Zeleros will be provided with approximately EUR 2.8 million thereof to develop high-performance energy-storage systems for electrically-powered road and industrial vehicles, ships and aircraft.
CEO David Pistoni explains that the Valencia-based firm won the funding on the basis of the extensive experience it has gained in recent years. “As we move forward with building hyperloops, we’ve found that there is an unmet industrial need in fields that are moving towards decarbonisation and electrification.”
Further, he confirms that “especially high-energy and high-performance vehicles with low-volume production lack solid supply chains to help them meet commitments to mitigate climate change. As an enterprise developing high-performance technologies we can apply our knowledge to propose solutions to these markets.”
Smaller yet more powerful
By consolidating the design and developing the battery system for its hyperloop vehicle, Zeleros believes it is ready to achieve the specified goal of a battery pack. Its advantages are said to lie in energy efficiency, optimised volume, low weight, high performance, fast charging and its modular essence.
This should make it possible to transport particularly urgent (at speeds of up to 1,000 km/h) or heavy consignments over longer distances. In addition, the project, which is set to be completed by 2025, includes research and evaluation of certain key aspects for the future industrial production and commercialisation of the battery pack.
Test track set to be commissioned
With a linear motor test track currently under construction in the port of Sagunto, approximately 30 km north of Valencia, Zeleros is continuing with its work on a scalable hyperloop. Its so-called ‘Sustainable Electric Freight Forwarder’ system, scheduled to commence tests in 2023, has been designed as a platform that relieves and also decarbonises port traffic by moving boxes to the hinterland entirely under electric power.