Watch the first public demonstration of a Hyperloop propulsion system

Shawn Knight

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Shortly before its first public demonstration, Hyperloop Technologies changed its name to Hyperloop One in a bid to avoid confusion with rival research group Hyperloop Transportation Technologies. With that formality out of the way, the company moved forward with its planned propulsion demonstration Wednesday afternoon.

Hyperloop One invited several journalists out to the Nevada desert for the first public open-air test. As you can see in the video above, the event was over in just a few seconds which, when you’re trying to build a ridiculously fast transportation system, is good news.

The test consisted of a metal sled accelerating down a length of track just over 100 meters long. The final design will of course consist of a transport pod inside an above-ground, low-pressure tube to reduce drag.

According to The Verge, the sled accelerated from 0-100 MPH in 1.1 seconds. The Next Web was also in attendance and points out that this test didn’t use the company’s latest technology. Instead, it simply demonstrated the propulsion system so there was no levitation in play as the sled used wheels and railroad tracks instead.

Predictably, a lot of people are comparing the test to what’s used in some amusement park rollercoasters. Some publications are claiming the sled hit a top speed of 400 MPH but I'm just not buying it based on the video. For comparison, here's what a rocket sled looks like at 700 MPH.

Hyperloop One is planning a “full system test” of a pod inside a tube later this year.

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Uhhhhhhh ..... I've seen the fat guy next door go down his slip & slide
and make a bigger impression that that one!
 
So does that acceleration amount to about 4G? My bet is that if they retain that level of acceleration, then passengers will not like it.

Other than the fact that this thing is going to be stuck in a tube, I don't see all the excitement about it. It's "only" a maglev.

Also, they won't be able to patent it. They had something similar for Mars transport in the series Babylon 5. I wonder if that is where Musk got the idea.
 
Uhhhhhhh ..... I've seen the fat guy next door go down his slip & slide
and make a bigger impression that that one!

Think of this as Alpha and not even Beta.

Once they get to the testing stage where they are testing pods with people in it that should wake you up :)
 
400mph?
I hate that I have to do this, I really do, but... Was it AMD that said it hit 400mph?
 
How much more underwhelming can you get... Is it the name "Hyperloop" that gets people going or something?

All that was to me was a severely lame form of magnetic propulsion, not even mag-lev which is cool technology, the amusement park ride comparison is spot on if you ask me, think Superman the Ride but not designed to not make people sick, a ride I equally think of as pretty lame.

"Some publications are claiming the sled hit a top speed of 400 MPH" Yeah there's no way that thing hit 400 MPH let alone 200 MPH, something going 400 MPH being slowed down by what appears to be water would disintegrate, when I see a "claim" like this I immediately think of This.
 
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