Tesla's Musk to build test track for Hyperloop
19 Jan 2015
Elon Musk plans to build a test track for his super-faster Hyperloop train in Texas, in a move that brings the sometimes mocked idea a little closer to reality, The Independent reported.
In a tweet, Musk said he would build the Hyperloop test track, most likely in Texas.
He added, it would allow companies and student teams to test out the pods for the system. The Hyperloop used the pods to travel around the track - and though the idea was mooted by Musk, he said that he hoped that other groups would contribute towards research and work of building it.
The idea involved pods riding on a cushion of air through tubes, allowing them to travel at high speed, with a theoretical top speed of 760 mph (See: Musk's Hyperloop transportation system a step closer to reality ).
He told the Texas Tribune that the test track would be a five-mile long loop and that Texas was the leading candidate to host it.
He added, the facility would be privately funded.
The Register added, that solar panels on top of the tube would provide more than enough power, as per plans published by Musk in 2013 (Tesla CEO Elon Musk brings hyper-speed transport closer to reality ), and a San Francisco and Los Angeles connecting Hyperloop could cost $20 per person to ride, and make the trip in 35 minutes.
Musk had at the time said he would not have time to build the Hyperloop himself, as battery-powered Tesla cars and SpaceX rocketry were taking up too much of his time. It now seemed though that Musk had decided to go ahead.
Musk is not alone and following the publication of the Hyperloop blueprints, a group of engineers got together to bring the tubular plans to reality. The project work was being done by 200 volunteered in their own time, with 100 selected to work at Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Inc (HTT).
The team had concluded thus far that the Hyperloop idea was certainly possible from an engineering standpoint, with some tweaks. For instance, the forces involved were manageable during acceleration, but according to the team, passengers would feel nauseous due to sideways G forces during cornering.