A standard elevator can easily take 15 or 20 seconds to go up to a third floor. That’s how long mine takes. The fastest elevator in the world goes to the 95th floor in just 43 seconds. Reach a speed of 72 km/hbreaking the previous record of 61 km/h that a Toshiba forklift had at the Taipei 101 Tower, also in China.
The fastest elevator on the planet, manufactured by Hitachiis located in the Guangzhou CTF Financial Center skyscraper, China. It is 520 meters high, 111 floors, and 5 underground levels.
The elevator was built a decade ago, but in all this time no one has broken its speed record. The Japanese manufacturer boasts of being the first to rise 1,200 meters per minute.
The elevator that defeats gravity and inertia
The Guangzhou CTF Financial Center skyscraper has a total of 95 elevatorsaccording to account Oddity Central. There are 28 double-deck elevators, 13 high-speed elevators and 52 low- and medium-speed elevators, all built by Hitachi.
The two fastest, called express, are the fastest elevators in the world. They run through the entire skyscraper and are designed for those who want to reach the top without waiting, since they do not stop at the request of clients, like the rest.
As it is easy to imagine, building an elevator that goes up and down at 72 km/h is not easy at all, especially because there are passengers inside, who are very sensitive to inertia. You can’t brake or accelerate suddenly because people would end up on the ground, bruised.. You should do it so smoothly that users won’t notice it. In this video you can see how it was built:
To reach such speed without causing fainting, these express elevators have thin-profile permanent magnet synchronous motors and compact traction machines that lighten the lifting system.
Climbing 95 floors in 43 seconds can make your ears popdue to the brutal change in pressure. That is why these elevators have pressurized cabins and an automated system that adjusts the air pressure in real time.
Elevator cabins are shaped like aerodynamic capsules to reduce wind resistance. Shock absorbers located around the cabin prevent them from bouncing when braking.
Stopping the elevator is the most difficult
They have active guide rollers that detect even the slightest vibration in the rails, activating motors to move the elevator car in the opposite direction, thus canceling any shaking.
These impressive lifts are equipped with special brake pads designed to withstand temperatures of up to 300°C as they have to stop at high speed, especially if an emergency occurs.
Everything is cutting-edge technology in the fastest elevator in the world. Hitachi can be proud of its great achievement.