You must login or register to view this content. .The serial entrepreneur envisions a future where mag-lev trains in enormous pneumatic tubes whisk us from Los Angeles to New York in 45 minutes. Need to be in Beijing tomorrow? No problem. It's a two-hour ride away.
As crazy as it sounds, Musk is merely updating an idea that's been around since the early 1900s, and at least one company is working on a functional prototype. But according to Wired sources, his involvement won't be nearly as hands-on as Musk's other endeavors at Tesla Motors and SpaceX.
The engineering behind the Hyperloop is similar to the old-school pneumatic tube systems used by banks to suck your deposit to the teller at the drive-through. But naturally, it's more complicated than that.
Is hyperloop transit possible? Who is Elon Musk?
A massive vacuum tube — mounted either above ground or even under water — would be combined with a magnetic levitation system used on conventional bullet trains. That means no friction, no wind resistance, no chance of collisions, and insanely high speeds.
Musk described the Hyperloop as "a cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table," at AllThingsD's D11 conference earlier this year. And in an interview with PandoDaily, Musk said the Hyperloop could form a fifth tent pole of modern transportation, joining cars, planes, trains, and boats, adding that because of its low energy usage and ability to get juice from solar power, it could generate more power than it would consume.
But up until now, he hasn't elaborated on his involvement.
Musk's interest in the idea was sparked after researching California's new high-speed rail project and realizing that it will be the slowest and — at $70 billion — the most expensive system on the planet. To his mind, there's a better solution. The Hyperloop is it. And one firm unaffiliated with Musk is in the early stages of development.
ET3, a company based in Longmont, Colorado, is working on a Evacuated Tube Transport (ETT) system, which it describes as "space travel on Earth." It uses two tubes — one for each direction — with 400-pound, passenger car-sized capsules that could house six people, each accelerated by linear electric motors. According to ET3, state trips would average speeds of around 370 mph, while international trips would hit that insane 4,000 mph mark.
The company, which calls itself an "open consortium," claims that it's working with partners in China and has sold nearly 100 licenses for the technology. But ET3′s claims pose more questions than answers, particularly when considering you can buy your own license for the bargain basement price of $100.
I'm a fan of future technology, but this doesn't seem that it'll be a 'normal' use like airplanes until 2100+. They should make planes that go faster than their current speed which would be more easier to develop and would be of normal use in the next decades.
You must login or register to view this content. .The serial entrepreneur envisions a future where mag-lev trains in enormous pneumatic tubes whisk us from Los Angeles to New York in 45 minutes. Need to be in Beijing tomorrow? No problem. It's a two-hour ride away.
As crazy as it sounds, Musk is merely updating an idea that's been around since the early 1900s, and at least one company is working on a functional prototype. But according to Wired sources, his involvement won't be nearly as hands-on as Musk's other endeavors at Tesla Motors and SpaceX.
The engineering behind the Hyperloop is similar to the old-school pneumatic tube systems used by banks to suck your deposit to the teller at the drive-through. But naturally, it's more complicated than that.
Is hyperloop transit possible? Who is Elon Musk?
A massive vacuum tube — mounted either above ground or even under water — would be combined with a magnetic levitation system used on conventional bullet trains. That means no friction, no wind resistance, no chance of collisions, and insanely high speeds.
Musk described the Hyperloop as "a cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table," at AllThingsD's D11 conference earlier this year. And in an interview with PandoDaily, Musk said the Hyperloop could form a fifth tent pole of modern transportation, joining cars, planes, trains, and boats, adding that because of its low energy usage and ability to get juice from solar power, it could generate more power than it would consume.
But up until now, he hasn't elaborated on his involvement.
Musk's interest in the idea was sparked after researching California's new high-speed rail project and realizing that it will be the slowest and — at $70 billion — the most expensive system on the planet. To his mind, there's a better solution. The Hyperloop is it. And one firm unaffiliated with Musk is in the early stages of development.
ET3, a company based in Longmont, Colorado, is working on a Evacuated Tube Transport (ETT) system, which it describes as "space travel on Earth." It uses two tubes — one for each direction — with 400-pound, passenger car-sized capsules that could house six people, each accelerated by linear electric motors. According to ET3, state trips would average speeds of around 370 mph, while international trips would hit that insane 4,000 mph mark.
The company, which calls itself an "open consortium," claims that it's working with partners in China and has sold nearly 100 licenses for the technology. But ET3′s claims pose more questions than answers, particularly when considering you can buy your own license for the bargain basement price of $100.
From New York to Los Angeles by Plane is 8 hours because it's about 2,792 miles apart.
Then you have the cruising speeds of 885 km/hr (550 mph) for a commercial jet Airplane.