Meet The World's Fastest Elevator

Ensuring that you will never again curse your elevator for making you wait to go to the bathroom, China is building the world's fastest elevator. Set to be completed in 2016, the mechanical marvel will ascend 95 floors in just 43 seconds, which means that no one will ever beat you in a stairs versus elevator race. China, a nation that is developing at a breakneck speed, is making sure that its elevator are keeping up with its pace, and 45 mph elevator is certainly doing its job.

The Japanese company Hitachi will be responsible for building the lift, and will replace Toshiba as the manufacturer of the fastest elevator in the world. Currently, the record belongs to Taipei101 in Taiwan, which boasts an elevator that carries its passengers at a speed of 38 mph.

Maybe speeds like this won't even allow our ears to pop, or they'll pop before we even have time to notice. At this rate, it takes just about four seconds to travel 10 floors. This absolutely crushes other "fast" elevators mentioned in Business Insider's list of the 8 Fastest Elevators. In last place is another Chinese elevator, this one in Shanghai, which only manages 20 mph. This new elevator travels at nearly double the speed.

In fact, none of the other seven elevators break 30 mph, with the second fastest (behind the previous record holder in Taipei) traveling a measly 28 mph. Because clearly, you need to get up to the top of a building faster than you need to drive through a school zone.

The Guangzhou CTF Finance Center, which will house the new fastest elevator, will have a total of 95 elevators. Included in these 95 elevators are 2 of the world record setters, 28 double-decker elevators, 13 high-speed elevators, and 52 normal elevators of medium and low speeds. The building, which will stand over 1,700 feet tall and is comprised of 111 stories, is just another architectural wonder of a constantly expanding Chinese skyline.

Of course, there are certain safety issues associated with constructing an elevator that competes with some cars for speed. In 2010, Hitachi built a tower purely for the sake of testing the elevator, which comes complete with special brakes that withstand heat and are activated if "excessive" speeds are detected. Although with normal speeds already at 45 mph, it is unclear what will qualify as "excessive."

In a press release, Hitachi also noted, “technologies to prevent lateral vibration and to reduce the sensation of ear blockage caused by air pressure differences" have been included in the elevator, so that your ride will be as comfortable as it is short.

China today accounts for 60 percent of the global demand for elevators, proving that China's race to the top comes in many different variations.