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Hyperloop

Ever since Elon Musk unveiled his Hyperloop concept in August 2022, in that location've been organizations working to bring at least a test rail online and encounter if the concept tin can piece of work. I of those companies, Hyperloop Technologies Inc, has appear that its own plans are moving forwards. The arrangement will build its Propulsion Open-Air Test (POAT) near Las Vegas, Nevada.

As the name implies, POAT volition be used to examination linear electric motors. Linear induction motors are typically used in maglev trains (in low-dispatch applications) and for coil and railguns (in awesome, loftier-speed applications). Musk's original whitepaper on the subject mentioned linear electric motors as the practical method of driving Hyperloop capsules, and a follow-up paper from Hyperloop Technologies appears to concord with this, though the company notes it's exploring multiple methods of stabilizing the capsule in the tube, including the proposed air cushion as well every bit a wheel-based solution.

The larger question, of course, is whether or not the Hyperloop represents a fifth mode of transportation (as compared to rail, roads, flight, and sea travel), or if information technology's an interesting idea without much current practicality. Hyperloop Technologies has said in past presentations that it would like to encounter the price of a Hyperloop ticket driven down into the $20-$30 range over the long term and believes it could exist competitive for long-altitude (or fast delivery) freight hauling. At $xx-$30 a ticket, a Hyperloop network could conceivably deliver passengers from Indicate A to Betoken B at greater-than airline speed for Greyhound prices. That's an extremely attractive proposition for all sorts of reasons, but we're even so a long way from proving that a real-world Hyperloop can exist built and operated while maintaining sustainable revenue.

Proposed Hyperloop network

Proposed Hyperloop network

Hyperloop Technologies envisions a network of tubes spanning most of the country, but this model really shows the difficulty of ramping up a new mode of transport. Compare the map of proposed HT hubs with the current map of US air coverage.

US domestic flights

US domestic flights

Every bit someone who enjoys air travel just slightly more than than existence attacked by giant wasps, I'm sympathetic to the argument that Hyperloop ship could provide a faster, cheaper method of transportation. Fifty-fifty if the technology works, notwithstanding, I'm not certain the business organization case will. It may provide specific options to users in destination cities traveling directly betwixt them, but it'south more than difficult to make a example for signal-to-indicate Hyperloop transport replacing the air network. Air travel is cumbersome and inconvenient, particularly if y'all don't alive in a hub city and have to travel through multiple airports to reach a destination — but as the above diagram shows, seventy years of expansion have created a network that serves a huge pct of the United States.

Nonetheless, we won't know if the solution can work until nosotros've tried to build one. Hopefully Hyperloop Technologies' motor tests will shed more than light on the kinds of designs that work well in this context and pave the way for farther testing in 2022 – 2022.