Late Monday afternoon, after a year of mystery, billionaire Elon Musk revealed plans for his so-called new Project “Hyperloop.” He touts it as the “fifth mode” of transportation “after planes, trains, cars and ships.”
“Hyperloop Alpha,” as Musk dubbed the first design, will be a solar-powered transportation system that could transport people from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just 30 minutes, according to an interview Musk gave to Bloomberg Businessweek. The billionaire also announced the existence of a 57-page PDF file explaining Hyperloop. The file is available on the website of Tesla, Musk’s electric-car company.
For those who do not know Musk, he is the co-founder of PayPal and the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX and Tesla Motors. After the announcement of the project he confirmed that he does not have time to deal with Hyperloop, but hopes that others will take over the designs or its improvements. During a live video conference after the unveiling of the designs, Musk said that it is “possibly” to build a prototype Hyperloop.
As Hyperloop notes, it is better suited for travel between cities that are less than 1,000 miles apart and where traffic is high. Travelers will avoid the long waiting times during check‑in, the takeoffs and landings required in air travel.
Musk told BusinessWeek that he was inspired to think about overhauling public transportation when he heard about and was disappointed by the $70 billion budget needed to build a high-speed rail system in California, which is set to begin construction this summer. Citing slow speeds, inefficient costs, and logistical difficulties related to land rights, Musk began working on his Hyperloop concept, claiming it would be four times faster than rail — about 800 miles per hour — and cost one-tenth the cost.
The Hyperloop would transport people in an aluminum “vehicle” that would run inside steel tubes. The aluminum “vehicle” would be able to carry two cars and their passengers. It would run in a complete vacuum, and its propulsion would be provided by compressed air generated by an electric turbocharger.
