The Ultra-Speed Hyperloop System From Tesla Will Radically Change Transportation As We Know It
Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, has been talking up his idea for an ultra-speed transportation network called the Hyperloop. Now, he’s making it a reality. Construction for the hyperloop will begin in central California next year. This futuristic transit system will allow people to travel between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 30 minutes for just $20 per ticket. Awesome!
Musk envisions his hyperloop as a 400 mile long network of above-ground tubes with low air pressure inside them. They’ll allow bus-sized capsules to travel through the tubes at near supersonic speeds that approach 800 miles per hour. Their initial hyperloop will be 5 miles long and the capsules will reach up to 200 miles per hour.
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“This five-mile stretch will allow us to completely test the technology, from the boarding process to the safety procedures – really everything except top speed,” HTT CEO Dirk Ahlborn said.
If all goes according to plan, the Hyperloop will be located between San Francisco and Los Angeles and be located in a self-sustaining community called Quay Valley. The 75,000 resident city will be powered only by solar energy and contain 25,000 homes, as well as schools, parks, and entertainment infrastructure. Construction there will begin in 2016.
According to the originator of the concept, Quay Hays, such non-polluting public transportation network as the Hyperloop will be a perfect fit for his futuristic city. “With Quay Valley, we’re creating a community built on economical, environmental and social sustainability, and part of this is seeking to reduce car dependency. For these reasons, the Hyperloop is the ideal clean community transit system for Quay Valley,” he said.
Ahlborn emphasizes that, despite the fact that the whole concept seems kind of idealistic, the project is very real and is more than just a scaled-down model.
“Our agreement with Quay Valley is a major milestone in the advancement of the Hyperloop project. This installation will allow us to demonstrate all systems on a full scale.”
200 engineers from Airbus, Yahoo! and NASA will be involved with the project. 25 students from UCLA will also work on different issues like design, cost estimations and route planning.
The estimated cost of the project is $100 million. The hyperloop will launch as early as 2019.
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