Up until the two rival companies made a decision to turn this vision into reality, the hyperloop had merely been a concept developed by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in 2013.
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On Wednesday, Hyperloop One conducted the first public test of its proposed propulsion system for the dreamy transportation concept Elon Musk believes could one day whisk passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in just 35 minutes, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The company hopes to have a fully functional hyperloop, including a five-kilometre track and tubes, to test by the end of the year. “Our expertise working with cities, building port infrastructure and delivering highly challenging transit projects provides the depth of knowledge essential for safely and effectively developing and maximizing a new mode of transportation”. But Hyperloop One seems to be jumping ahead with an actual test of its technology and more funding.
Hyperloop One testing its system in North Las Vegas.
But really, it is an idea for a new high-speed ground transport system which would could transport people in a capsule that would travel at the supersonic speed of 1,200 km per hour. Sections of giant empty tubes sit nearby, each 3.3 meters in diameter and branded with the Hyperloop One logo. The propulsion system used a metal sled that went on a two-second trip, with speeds of about 116 miles per hour before crashing into a pile of sand.
Hyperloop One’s $80 million Series B financing round was raised from more than 70 investors, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As Hyperloop One’s technology chief Brogan BamBrogan (seriously) told Wired, each individual element of Hyperloop is known to work. The “Kitty Hawk moment” as Hyperloop One calls it, will take place later this year. Some publications are claiming the sled hit a top speed of 400 miles per hour but I’m just not buying it based on the video.
Lloyd said that the company plans to have its system ferrying cargo by 2019 and passengers by 2021.
“I would really like to note that all of that happened on objective!” said a giddy Brogan BamBrogan, Hyperloop One’s cofounder, after the test was over.
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Assuming the technology can built at scale, the major issue standing in the way of a completed Hyperloop is the cost.
