Elon Musk’s Hyperloop, LA to San Francisco in 30 Minutes

July 26th, 2012 by Joshua S Hill

He’s brought us PayPal, and the Tesla Model S electric car. He wants to take astronauts to the International Space Station, and humanity to Mars. And, now, Elon Musk wants to get people “from downtown LA to downtown San Francisco in under 30 minutes.”

The trip currently takes an hour by plane (not to mention the buffer on either side as you traverse the airports) or six hours by car. But Musk’s new plan, the Hyperloop, would never crash, ignores the weather outside, and would travel twice as fast as a plane.

A concept rendering for Aeromovel, similar to Musk’s Hyperloop

“This system I have in mind, how would you like something that can never crash, is immune to weather, it goes 3 or 4 times faster than the bullet train… it goes an average speed of twice what an aircraft would do,” Musk asks. “You would go from downtown LA to downtown San Francisco in under 30 minutes. It would cost you much less than an air ticket than any other mode of transport.

“I think we could actually make it self-powering if you put solar panels on it, you generate more power than you would consume in the system. There’s a way to store the power so it would run 24/7 without using batteries. Yes, this is possible, absolutely.”

Musk hasn’t given us many details on what his Hyperloop would look like, though he’s made it known that he’ll provide details to “anyone who can make a credible case that they can do it.” He also cited Aeromovel as a similar design, suggesting that the Hyperloop could take advantage of a similar pneumatic transportation guideway.

Needless to say, there are many residents in LA and San Francisco who would greatly appreciate a safe, efficient, and cheaper method of getting from a to b.

Source: The Atlantic

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Tags: Elon Musk, high-speed trains, Hyperloop, SpaceX

About the Author

Joshua S Hill I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

Spookacabra

It’s a bullet train with beds. Youre awake for 30 mins and sleep the rest. You won’t know the difference. what a Genius!
- http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
  lol.
http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Stockton/1329126798 John Stockton

Wow my ideas are being stolen quickly. I had the same general concept for PR – prob is when the greedies come in they will hold hostage the low cost thingy. Innovation with low cost and people in mind should come with a criminal law against anyone who f’s with the financial benefits. This law should balance any law breakers with 10x the loss penalty so it can overcome any slick criminal calculators of crime vs penalty benefit. In a nutshell most lowly people will see some benefit but the money grabbers will do their little parasitic thing to overcome any benefit. It boils down to country pride, love for people and the people having the power to hold on to these true benefits and protect from bad politics and greedy parasites.
- http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
  Yep… a big dilemma.
Phing Chov

Is he going to build a Land Titanic?
- Bob_Wallace
  
  Hard to say. He made a fortune with PayPal. He’s put together a successful electric car company and delivered two exciting high quality products on schedule. And he’s started a ‘rocket ship’ company which has just completed a successful flight to the space station and back home.
  You want to bet against him?
  - Phing Chov
    
    No, I’m not a gambling type of person. I’m also well aware of Mr. Musk’s accomplishments.
    
    My comment was an obscure reference to Futurama. Forgive my odd sense of humor, I meant no disrespect.
    - Bob_Wallace
      
      Futurama. Wasn’t that a carnival ride back in the 1960s?
      - Phing Chov
        
        Lol. I suppose you could be correct. I was referring to the TV show Futurama by Matt Groening.
  - Phing Chov
    
    Also, the word is “aerospace” company.
    
    Sorry, another obscure reference. Anyone that listens to public radio wayyy to much will understand. Again, no disrespect
    - Bob_Wallace
      
      I listen to public radio from when I get up (before I get up) until I go to bed (after I go to bed). I even listen a bit when I get up in the middle of the night to pee (it’s an age thing).
      
      I guess our stations are different…. ;o)
Ahmed_as91

may be that unbelievable idea but is good
http://www.facebook.com/people/Shecky-Vegas/1380703171 Shecky Vegas

What the hell is this guy smoking?
- Bob_Wallace
  
  Success
  - Captivation
    
    Its worth watching Revenge of the Electric Car, just to get some insight into Elon’s psychology. There are some hints of impulsiveness although these might simply be artifacts of the story telling process.
- http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
  I don’t know, but he should sell that.
Captivation

Quickest route from A to B is an AdverB. They’ll get you there surprisingly quickly, and unbelievably efficiently
- http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
  HAHA
Anne

“Needless
to say, there are many residents in LA and San Francisco who would
greatly appreciate a safe, efficient, and cheaper method of getting from
a to b”

Tsssk, tsssk, CleanTechnica, why skip the obvious: a *cleaner* method of going from a to b!
- Bob_Wallace
  
  efficient = cleaner?
- http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
  haha
ThomasGerke

Propably a maglev travling through an evacuated tube… a maglev vactrain.

While a maglev can reach 500 kph without problem, a maglev vactrain could travel significantly faster….

A maglev would be totally awesome already though… I mean 1h 20m from SF to LA doesn’t sound so bad…
- Billy Porter
  
  plus the additional 1-2hrs it takes to park/security/check-in/board… wait till TSA takes over train stations.
  - http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
    
    yeah, dreading that!
- http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
  That’d be my guess.