5 things to know about Hyperloop

The transport of the future, perhaps, is not only electric cars, cars on hydrogen and all other types of cars, but also superhigh-speed trains Hyperloop. Let me remind you that Hyperloop is something like a subway, only “tunnels” are located above the ground, and represent a pipeline through which high-speed trains move.

This is a project, one of the initiators of which is Ilon Musk. He is the author of a large number of projects, which often turn out to be very successful thanks to the original idea, which was incorporated into the project initially. Of course, there are difficulties, but, for the most part, the ideas of Mask are realized. The Hyperloop test site may be put into operation as early as 2017. About this system on Geektimes a sufficient amount of information has already been published, but there are still things that have not been mentioned.

1. Hyperloop is not only Ilon Musk

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Hyperloop Transportation Technologies

Mask himself announced that he was not going to implement Hyperloop himself, there were several groups of enthusiasts who decided to bring the project to life on their own. Already a month after the publication of the “alpha version” a group of Ansys specialists led by Sandeep Sovani (English Sandeep Sovani) conducted a computer simulation, which showed the fundamental possibility of implementing the idea. The simulation results prompted the project to provide support from the JumpStartFund crowdsourcing platform, during the vote on which the project received more than 300 votes.

To implement the idea, it was decided to create a company Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Inc. (HTT), the key figures of which are JumpStartFund co-founder Dirk Alborn (born Dirk Ahlborn) and President SpaceX Gwynn Shotwell (born Gwynne Shotwell).



Hyperloop Technologies

Another team was formed by Shervin Pishevar (English Shervin Pishevar) - the first investor of Uber, founder of the venture fund Sherpa Ventures, a major sponsor of the US Democratic Party. At the All Things Digital conference in May 2013, Pishevar asked Mask to publicly disclose the details of Hyperloop. After publishing 3 months later, the details of the project, Pishuevar secured an audience with President Obama, after which the president instructed his administration’s Bureau for Science and Technology Policy to study the idea.

Gradually, Pishevar attracted him to a company he called Hyperloop Technologies Inc. (Hyperloop Tech), the following partners: co-founder of Palantir and co-owner of Formation 8 venture fund Joe Lonsdale, head of Obama's winning 2012 presidential campaign Jim Messina, Space Adventures founder and head of X Prize Peter Diamandis, member of the PayPal mafia David Sachs. The latter became co-chairman of Hyperloop Tech and recruited engineer Kevin Brogan, who changed his name to Brogan Bembrogan (born Brogan BamBrogan), to work on the SpaceX guru project.

2. Hyperloop is not only new technologies.

Hyperloop uses magnets and powerful fans (they force air into the air with special guides to create an air cushion) to make aluminum capsules move along the pipeline. Perhaps the project will be implemented only with the use of an air cushion, then the magnets in the system can be abandoned. The pipeline will be covered with solar panels, the system and the batteries that accumulate the energy received by the batteries during the day are included in the system.

The developers have added some innovative solutions, but, in general, all of these are already existing technologies. As early as the 1950s, some science-fiction authors described a system of pipelines (or tunnels) with evacuated air along which the capsules on a magnetic cushion are moving with great speed.


Pipeline concept for high-speed trains (1974)

Actually, the main task of the developers now is to make the whole system, if not profitable in the early stages, then at least not unprofitable. The new transport system offers an inexpensive (or completely free ) way to travel at speeds of 450-700 km / h. Perhaps, for people of different ages, different capsules will be offered - for speed lovers - speedy ones, for older people - less fast ones.

3. It may cost less than a high-speed train.

Musk estimated Hyperloop, which connects Los Angeles with San Francisco at $ 6– $ 10 billion. A system that would work throughout the state of California could cost $ 60 + billion.

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has already announced that they will be able to build a system of the same length for $ 16 billion over 10 years. At the same time, the construction of Hyperloop will be cheaper than the high-speed rail system. The thing is that the lines are planned to start along the route of already existing autobahns, trains are not needed here, plus the land rent will be minimal, since the pipeline hangs above the ground, and the area allotment is very small.

The system will work in any weather, and even natural disasters will not have a major impact on the performance of Hyperloop.

4. Hyperloop may have problems.

Not everyone is convinced that such a system will be safe for people. Is Hyperloop able to withstand an earthquake? Will solar panels produce enough energy? Can passengers ride at such speeds? What if someone needs a toilet? Are there any toilet cabins?

The system will have to be built in regions where there are no strong ascents and descents, otherwise the journey for some people will not be comfortable at all. But if Hyperloop is a big enough system, then autobans, tunnels, descents and ascents will inevitably meet on the way.

5. Perhaps the longest section will be built not in the USA

So far, hundreds and thousands of kilometers we are not talking. In the United States, it is possible to build a pipeline with a length of several tens of kilometers. But representatives of business from other countries began to express their interest in the project a long time ago. The UAE, Singapore and other countries - this is where the creation of long sections for Hyperloop is possible.

In January 2016, it is planned to begin the creation of a test segment of a length of 8 km.