I remember being petrified to take the elevator in one of my grandparent’s apartment building.  It was slower than molasses (yes, I timed it )  and just about big enough to hold two adults.

On the other hand, I also recall having a field day when my parents attended a wedding in Rochester, NY.  My brother and I pressed the buttons on the hotel elevators for about an hour- until we were caught and dragged to our parents.   (I was 6 and he was 2; there wasn’t much they do to us.)

Or my trip to New York, where a brand new hotel was opening later that week. As an invited guest to “try out” its new amenities, I found its elevator less than welcoming.  I pressed to button to take me to the top floor (4), but the doors opened somewhere between 2 and 3.  And, then it dropped about 10 feet- still without clear egress. It rose up to the top and stopped.

I pressed the emergency button over and over.  No one came.  I took my briefcase and broke the lights, lied down on the floor and waited.  (I preferred the dark in this situation.)  Finally (it felt like hours, but according to the hotel it was only 20 minutes), the elevator went into what I thought was free fall, stopping in the basement.  The maintenance guy, who was waiting there, astutely noted “the elevator is broken”.  To which I replied, “NO S..t, Sherlock!” and walked up to my floor.  (No, the hotel didn’t charge me for my visit, dinner, or breakfast.)

All this leads up to discussing a novel new elevator design.  The fourth largest supplier, Thyssenkrupp AG, plans to offer a mag-lev unit (magnetic levitation)- the same technology that is revolutionizing train travel.  Not only will this elevator not need any cables, travel  faster, and reach higher elevations- it will be capable of moving both horizontally and vertically.

(You do know that elevator cables can’t be extended infinitely.  It’s why taller buildings have elevators that take you to floor X, where you then change elevators to bring you to the higher floors.  That clearly slows down the “people moving” function.)

The world’s largest supplier, Otis (part of United Technology, US), as well as Kone (Finland), and Schindler (Switzerland) have not joined this bandwagon yet.  Instead, Kone has found a way to deal with taller shafts by employing carbon-fiber cables- that have much higher tensile strength to afford longer and taller elevator travel. Otis and Schindler are tweaking the computers that control elevator banks, to optimize their capability of people moving (cutting wait times, improve efficiencies).

Thyssenkrupp has its work cut out.  After all, it’s not atypical for an elevator shaft to cost about $ ½ million- with the full bank of units running several million bucks.  And, upgrading the cables and computer is much cheaper than retrofitting a whole new apparatus.  That also assumes that older buildings have the access and space to do so.  Not including the fact that this will entail a whole new design system- which means architects are going to have to be convinced of the mag-lev’s merits.  Plus, there will need to be multiple braking systems for fail-safe performance.  (Could you imagine my hotel experience if there were NO extant cable?)

Which is why Kone is expecting to garner big sales.  Because the ability to offer elevator travel to more floors (they claim a 500 meter shaft is possible), with much less resistance (which means lower costs of operation) will do just that.

Gentlemen (and ladies)…. Start your engines….

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