In the space of a week, another American tech company pioneering in high-tech modes of future transportation has accepted financing from a firm wholly owned by the Chinese government to advance their technologies for later transfer to China.
The firm is start-up Arrivo Corporation based in Los Angeles, California. Arrivo is pioneering a new mode of urban transportation: magnetic levitation or maglev vehicles. Instead of being designed primarily to transport people, Arrivo will use" mag-lev sleds" to carry cars (with passengers) and cargo in sealed tubes or tunnels. The maglev sleds will tear along their special tunnels at over 320 km/h.
Arrivo last week was promised $1 billion in funding by a firm called "Genertec America Inc.," which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of a state-owned firm owned by the Chinese government. The funding will support a future project using Arrivo technology, including those in China itself.
Genertec has helped finance and build high-speed rail and other infrastructure projects in Iran, Turkey and elsewhere. Partnerships like this could help persuade investors that these systems, which don't use highways, are worth their money.
Experts surmise the Chinese funding might finance up to three legs of a commercial, citywide hyperloop system with a length of 10 to 14 km per section. Arrivo's vision for its maglev sleds is to quickly transport people and cars over short distances within metro areas at speeds of around 320 km/h.
"There's a lot of companies working on future solutions, and that's great," said Arrivo CEO Brogan BamBrogan. "Wider freeways is never a good answer."
Arivo explained that China's $1 billion investment can be used to construct a project using its technology anywhere in the world, not necessarily in China. The money won't be used to fund the company's operations.
Arrivo began life with the aim of building a Hyperloop, but in November 2017 decided to instead focus on developing its own line of maglev transport vehicles without using the vacuum tubes and tunnels that distinguished the Hyperloop system envisioned by Elon Musk.
In November 2017, it announced plans for a rapid maglev system based on its own concept in Colorado to transport cars to and from Denver International Airport. Arrivo formed a public-private partnership with Colorado's Department of Transportation and E-470 Public Highway Authority for the project. Construction of an initial segment of the "super uber" network might start as early as 2019 if all goes well.
Before the Chinese government announced funding for Arrivo, however, it also announced funding for Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT), another California-based start-up. The $300 million funding will see HTT build a 10 kilometer-long test track in Tongren, a city in eastern Guizhou province.
Under the deal, Tongren Transportation & Tourism Investment Group (which is owned by the city government) will provide half the funds and seek private investors for the other half.
