Transport startup Hyperloop Technologies has teased some "major updates" to the high-speed transit system ahead of its first public test.
The posts include a video snippet of construction in the desert with claims of an event that "you don't want to miss", which will be held in Las Vegas today at 5pm PDT (Wednesday, 1am BST).
First envisioned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Hyperloop is a high-speed ground transport system that could connect San Francisco and Los Angeles in 35 minutes. Pods carrying passengers will travel through tubes at speeds of more than 745 miles per hour, powered by an electric propulsion system.
Having canned his Hyperloop plans in 2013, Musk made his research open-source in a 57-page alpha white paper so that other companies could continue developing the technology. Since then, a few startups – including Hyperloop Technologies as well as Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) – have started moving forward with building test tracks.
Musk's white paper proposed to revolutionise mass transit as it is today, moving passengers in individual aluminium pods powered by turbines and solar energy in above-ground tubes.
The system was inspired by vacuum tube mail delivery systems, but maintaining a vacuum for hundreds of miles, according to Musk, was untenable. Nevertheless, he said it would cost $6-10 billion (£3.9-6.5 billion) to build a track from San Francisco to LA. Once up and running, Musk estimates a ticket will cost around $20 (£13). The system also uses a fraction of the energy needed to power a conventional train.
Musk said if someone grabbed the idea and ran with it, it would take seven to ten years to complete and would be best served covering distances of 900 miles or more.
Confusingly, Hyperloop Technologies isn't the only startup working on a futuristic transit system. Last year, rival start-up Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) announced it will start work on a $6 billion Hyperloop test track. The system, which will also be solar powered, could transport over ten million passengers during testing, and will be built in Kings County, California.
Earlier this week HTT also announced it had "exclusively licensed" a major piece of technology for its own system. The technology, based on passive magnetic levitation, uses magnets placed on the underside of the train in such a way that allows the train to levitate as it moves through the tunnel.
HTT's system is expected to take around two years and cost $6 billion (£3.89 billion) to build. The test track will be limited to 160mph with passengers on board, but empty carriages will be tested at speeds up to 780mph. G-force in the system would be similar to those experienced by Formula 1 drivers, and tubes would mostly be straight in order to minimise stress and strain.
HTT also has ambitions to roll out globally, claiming that a route from London to Glasgow would cost between up to £5.2 billion to build and reduce journey times to 30 minutes.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
