Elon Musk, the brain behind Tesla, SpaceX and now the Hyperloop, has just shared a video of a pod destroying the 200mph mark.
The Hyperloop is Elon Musk’s new way to travel. It uses low pressure tunnels to allow train-like pods to travel at super speeds. The end result should see journeys with top speeds of 760mph, meaning going from LA to San Francisco would take just 35 minutes.
Now Elon Musk has shown off a sneak peak of a pod in development. This breaks the 200mph mark in the tiny tunnel. While that’s exciting you have to see how fast this thing stops to realise just how impressive this new way to travel will be.
The Hyperloop pods, in this case built by WARR, are using maglev tech to allow them to travel with as little friction as possible. Combine that with low pressure tunnels and the result should mean any pushing force is far more powerful that in the outside environment. That should result in super high speed travel without the need for as much energy to get to that state. It can also mean electricity powered travel that is eco-friendly and doesn’t produce destructive emissions.
The open-sourced Hyperloop is using entries from many different creators, including universities, that each aim to create the best solution to the transportation problem. SpaceX has a tunnel already built for testing these pods at about a mile long which is likely why this example didn’t go any faster.
The competitions with pods are ongoing so a release date is tough to judge. Elon Musk allegedly wants the Hyperloop running in 2018, although that seems ambitious. He is famed for claiming launch dates earlier than he can manage. But here’s hoping.
