We’ve newly discovered an elevator in India that can transport up to 235 people at once. Think you’ve got it in you to NOT learn more about it?
… that’s what we thought. Settle in, friend, you’re gonna be here for another 250 words.
Let’s talk specs
The ~277.5-square-foot elevator was unveiled last year at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai by Finnish vertical transport juggernaut Kone Corporation.
The largest passenger elevator in the world, India’s honkin’ new lift weighs 16 tons, is supported by 18 pulleys and nine ropes, and moves between five floors at a speed of 1.3 feet/second.
- You could lay an adolescent giraffe down on its side and it would fit inside — we haven’t tried, but wish we could.
And we should mention it once more: The elevator can carry 235 people in one go.
Wanna see this baby in action via overdramatic promo video? Of course you do.
Where does Kone test its elevator tech?
Glad you asked — this side quest similarly blew our minds. Kone is among the “Big Five” in the global elevator business alongside Thyssenkrupp, Otis, Schindler, and Mitsubishi.
But per Elevator World, Kone is in a league of their own when it comes to their testing facility, which hosts the world’s deepest elevator shaft (~1,150 feet under Tytyri, Finland).
Yes, under. Because Kone HQ is in a skyscraper-free country where no building exceeds 432 feet, it had to go the other direction — conducting research underground in a limestone mine.
Its extensive acceleration, speed, braking, and deceleration testing includes a ~650-foot free-fall test. That’s 5x the drop in Disney World’s Tower of Terror.
BTW: The world’s largest freight elevator, located in China, is its own rabbit hole you can free-fall down.
