TECH
The skyscraper elevator of the future
July 11, 2017 - Germany’s Thyssenkrupp has unveiled its latest prototype high-speed elevator, the MULTI, hailing it as the world’s first rope-free elevator.
MULTI allows for multiple cabins to move up the same electromagnetic shaft, travel horizontally, then come down another shaft in a continuous loop. Thyssenkrupp has built a €40m test tower, with 12 elevator shafts to display the system. By using magnets and motors, the area that would have been needed for cables is reduced by up to 50 per cent.