Thoughts on the incredible speeds achieved by modern elevators
I was reading a news article the other day that announced the speed of the world’s fastest elevator designed and manufactured by Otis and installed in Taiwan’s 101 Taipei tower, the tallest building in the world. At first, I thought that my eyes have failed me, because I could not comprehend the idea of going from basement to the top story at a 3314 ft. per minute (fpm). I believe that this pushes the limits of technology, because I imagine that the Otis elevator that manages to achieve such speeds are not created without comfort, safety and convenience in mind. I am not an engineer, so I cannot understand how this is possible even if I read about it, but I can see the enhanced features the elevators made by this manufacturer bring by myself every day.
I never stopped to think that I take the elevator every day and go up ten stories in a couple of seconds without getting sick, but after reading this incredible news I started to really wonder how they can manage it. I even started to wonder how much would such an elevator cost someone, but I could only find an Otis parts catalog online and that does not say much. I can only imagine that the maintenance costs are minimal compared to the price you pay for such an advanced elevator. The supplier I found, Oneelevator.com, had some of the cheapest rates on the market, but they still seemed quite a lot in my eyes. Taipei 101 has no less than 67 Otis elevator units at its disposal, so the costs would have been quite grand, but I guess I cannot compare the prices to my own budget, because I got the feeling from what I read on the Internet that Otis products are quite affordable taking into consideration the features and quality they offer in the price. It did cross my mind that I could use an Otis elevator in my apartment building, because I live at the top floor and the one we have is old and slow. I can probably take the stairs and reach the street faster than I do with the elevator we currently use. It is absurd to ask for such an upgrade; because we would not even afford some Otis elevator parts, but I guess dreaming about it is not a crime.
An interesting fact I learned about elevators from my little research is the fact that the speed Otis achieved thus far is close to the limits. With current technology in mind I am sure, specialists have come to the conclusion that any more than that and we would need special training, the kind only pilots need to go through, in order to be able to take the elevator. While manufacturers will always think about improving the speed of the elevators, I am sure that comfort and precision are two directions in which they can always seek improvement without exhausting their resources or pushing the limits of physics, so I am looking forward to that.
Otis elevator parts
Otis parts catalog
