Chapter 44: Chapter 44 Test Drive Start Chapter 44: Chapter 44 Test Drive Start “Testing to start in half an hour, please enter in an orderly manner!” At the entrance of the testing area, the staff began arranging for other media workers and a bunch of internet influencers who came to join the excitement to enter.
The few invited spectators also arrived at the audience seats with them.
“Here we are, guys, I’m already at the scene!” In the audience seats, He Xingzhou’s classmate and roommate Wang Jiahao was video-calling his other classmates with his phone.
Since He Xingzhou was “taken away,” their contact with him had diminished, but the students at the university still kept a silent watch over him.
When they saw on the news that He Xingzhou led a team to develop a metal-air battery, his university classmates finally understood what he was doing; he had joined an important scientific research team.
This time, He Xingzhou had sent an invitation to a few roommates, but since there were still classes at the university, only Wang Jiahao had time to come to the scene.
So now, he was video calling his other classmates in the class group.
“Where’s He Xingzhou? Haven’t seen him for months!” a few female classmates asked.
“I haven’t seen him yet either, don’t rush!” Wang Jiahao replied, “We’ll see him soon!”
“Where’s He’s Electromagnetic Floating Car?” Zhang Yang and Feng Tao asked eagerly, “Aren’t you going to try it out?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to, but there are too many people!” Wang Jiahao said, “Do you see that audience seat over there? It’s full of big shots, I can’t really go disturb He now!”
“There are quite a few celebrities here too! Look, isn’t that Bald Brother Hu?”
He pointed to a spot in the video, where a team was recording a video.
The main figure was a bald man, whose bright, shiny head gleamed in the sunlight!
“Indeed!” Zhang Yang said, “He has ten million followers on the short video platform!”
“Yeah, hey, I think I see a few internet celebrities as well, all with at least several million followers!”
“What does an internet celebrity amount to, haven’t you seen those big shots? Several of them with billions and even hundreds of billions in wealth are sitting there!”
“He Xingzhou is awesome, a single road test has attracted so many people to come and watch!”
At the starting point of the road, several Electromagnetic Floating Cars, under the gaze of the masses, slowly “flew” onto the roadway.
He Xingzhou and his Electromagnetic Floating Car finally made their appearance, and the national television station’s cameraman turned the camera to it immediately, besides the cameras set up on-site, there were also drones in the sky providing real-time ultra-clear aerial filming!
“He Xingzhou has appeared!” Both television and online audiences saw He Xingzhou almost instantly.
“Look at the car, look at the car!” Naturally, everyone’s first focus was on the Electromagnetic Floating Car.
Three models of Electromagnetic Floating Cars appeared alongside He Xingzhou.
The first model was “considerably small,” a small single/double-seater Electromagnetic Floating Car. Its appearance was similar to a large transparent wheel with a flat bottom!
One would sit inside the “wheel”, which had no steering wheel or complex interiors, just two comfortable seats and two electronic displays.
The other two, one was shaped like a bus. It was as big as a traditional bus, also wheel-less, floating over the magnetic track, streamlined exterior in black and white color, simple yet full of a sense of technology.
Another was a medium-sized truck, loaded with cargo.
Similarly, this ten-ton truck was also magnetically floating on the road!
Seeing this, the audience couldn’t help but marvel at the powerful functionality of its magnetic levitation motor.
“I thought only small vehicles could float, but I didn’t expect fully-loaded trucks could float too!” Tian Jun, upon seeing this, was amazed beyond measure.
“Yes, if the maglev motor can achieve this carrying capacity, then commercial operations would not have any problems at all!” Wan Zhe quickly captured this scene and sent it to the upper echelons of BYD Auto Company over their group chat.
Several foreign representatives changed their expressions.
“Is the load on that truck real?”
“Is it just a model? If it has that load, doesn’t that mean they have already succeeded?”
“Don’t panic, it’s just levitating for now; the real test will be on the roads!” they appeared calm on the surface, but these representatives from various countries couldn’t help sending messages back to their headquarters.
“Mr. He Xingzhou, is this the Electromagnetic Floating Car your team developed?” reporter Shen Bingbing asked curiously, “No wheels, and no steering wheel?”
He Xingzhou smiled, “Electromagnetic levitation doesn’t need wheels, and autonomous driving doesn’t need a steering wheel.”
The live-stream chat exploded with comments: “I’m an old driver, how do I drive without a steering wheel?”
“Coach, I want to learn to drive too!”
“Didn’t they say it can be operated with a joystick? I’m good at that, am a race car game god, right?”
Shen Bingbing asked, “So, could this pose any safety hazards?”
He Xingzhou explained, “The Electromagnetic Floating Car has a safety warning system, can automatically avoid dangers, and has emergency operation buttons, allowing passengers to perform operations like slowing down and stopping. Strictly speaking, as long as it’s operated correctly, it is safer than traditional cars. Traditional cars still have issues like driver fatigue, drunk driving, or other factors, while Electromagnetic Floating Cars are always self-checking.”
“Everyone can see, there are three types of Electromagnetic Floating Cars this time. One is a small household type, one is a city bus, and another is a medium-sized cargo truck type,” Shen Bingbing introduced to the camera, “Next, they will start, and we’ll see their actual performance on the road.”
“To better demonstrate their performance, this test also invited professional drivers to drive traditional fuel cars, electric cars, trucks, and race cars for comparison.”
Behind the track, several vehicles, including a fuel sedan, an electric sedan, a medium truck, and a professional race car each with a professional driver, drove in.
In He Xingzhou’s Electromagnetic Floating Car, there were no live passengers on the cargo truck and bus, only dummies.
He Xingzhou himself sat in the smaller “wheel-type” Electromagnetic Floating Car, which was more convenient and had already been tested for safety, making it more suitable for demonstration.
“Ladies and gentlemen, these vehicles will now drive ten laps on this magnetically sealed road, and we will conduct a comprehensive comparison analysis of their stability, safety, speed, efficiency, and energy consumption,” Shen Bingbing said to the camera.
“The entire process will be reported to you by Mr. He Xingzhou from the Electromagnetic Floating Car research team and our reporter Shen Bingbing!”
Shen Bingbing also sat in the co-driver’s seat beside He Xingzhou, curiously touching and looking around inside the car.
Filled cars were lined up on the track.
“Brother, go for it!” Mengyao shouted from behind.
At this moment, all testing vehicles were ready.
The starting flare shot into the sky, and several professional drivers immediately began driving their vehicles.
He Xingzhou, however, pressed the start button unhurriedly, and the Electromagnetic Floating Car slowly moved forward.
The audience’s attention was captivated, with people commenting on the stream: “Go! Go fast! The race car in front is speeding off!”
In front of He Xingzhou, a digital screen displayed the live broadcast and chat. Seeing all the comments, he calmly took out a coin from his pocket and handed it to Shen Bingbing.
“Uh?” Shen Bingbing’s large eyes filled with confusion as she took the coin and asked, “What are we doing? Is this car coin-operated?”
Chat comments: “Hinting at tipping with coins!”
“Stating it outright!”
He Xingzhou smiled and said, “No, I want you to stand this coin on the small table. Later, we’ll perform various maneuvers like accelerating and decelerating to see the state of the coin!”