Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Idea To Be Tested In Central California

Published by Henry Williams

May 22, 2015

Tesla Motors Inc’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk’s idea of transporting people through a large pneumatic tube in pods seemed extremely impractical in the beginning. Now, it seems that the idea is not far from reality, according to the recent announcement which states construction for the test track is scheduled to begin in 2016.

According to Navigant Research, a deal has been made between Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Inc. and the land owners of central California, which will allow the company to start building the test track. It should be noted that the company has no links with Elon Musk. The track will be built close to the Interstate 5 highway, somewhere in the middle of San Francisco and Los Angeles. The final length of the track is expected to be 400 miles; however, the length of the test track will only be five miles.

The idea was initially brought up by Tesla’s CEO in 2013. It is intended to be a very efficient and cheap mode of transportation. Customers will travel in pods, which will be propelled by electromagnetic pulses and fans through depressurized tubes at high speeds.

Elon Musk’s original idea was based on pods traveling at 800 mph, which would be faster than the speed of sound. However, the initial test will be conducted at a speed of 200 mph, mainly due to the fact that the track is not simply long enough to achieve the required acceleration.

The test track is estimated to cost around $100 million. Hyperloop Technology will raise the required capital through an IPO, which is expected to take place this year.

Meanwhile,the total cost of the entire project is calculated to be around $8 billion. This estimate only includes the manufacturing cost, and once the development cost is included, the total cost will jump even higher. Hence, Hyperloop technology would require a huge pile of cash, if it wants the project to be completed.

It is evident that the idea is not as cheap as Elon Musk originally proposed, but it is only a fraction of California’s upcoming high-speed rail system, which will cost $67.6 billion.

The concept is certainly very interesting, and if Hyperloop Technology plans to succeed, then we will soon be able to see the results. Furthermore, Elon Musk previously stated that he will also build a test track, which will most probably be located in Texas, since it has lots of flat areas.

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