Elevator Speed War | How Fast Can We Go?

What are the vertical limits of evelator travel, in super tall skyscrapers and beyond to outer space? The World’s Fastest Elevator was designed by Hitachi in Japan, going 1260 meters per minute (47 mph) up the Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre, 95 floors in 43 seconds! The title of World’s Fastest has changed for elevators just 8 times in the last 100 years.
Since 1978, Japan manufacturers have maintained the fastest title. But how did they do it? What are the limits of vertical travel?

I visited Hitachi’s Mito Plant to take with Takashi Abe, Developmental Supervisor of the world’s fastest elevator. The challenge to develop, manufacture and install it was a monumental task.