Are We Getting Closer To Hyperloop Travel?

I was first put onto the concept of hyperloop during one of Elon Musks rants that went viral and I didn't get wtf he was talking about then, I didn't see the point in what he was proposing then but as I began exploring the concept it slowly started to make sense to me. Kinda like how decentralisation, blockchain and cryptocurrency is now part of my daily vocab but 2 years ago I didn't even know these concepts existed.

I've embraced the concept of hyperloop and if its half as awesome as I think it could be, it will be the next revolutionary technology, yes I think this Elon guy, the dude that sent his car to Mars, he might be onto something here.

I think its safe to say we've taken this concept of cars and trains and we've run with it or rather drove with it and flogged this concept to death. While we've made incremental improvements and the latest model of whatever has whatever now, the damn thing remains the same. It takes you from A - B within a certain speed and as demand for transport increases this concept cannot be sustained.

Occupying the same space at the same time by 1000s of people means congestion, the one thing modern day tech has yet to solve? Hey, can we slap blockchain on this and decentralise traffic? Um no! So what can we do? Well get where we need to go faster for one, offer an alternative transport medium for second and 3rd have it be collaborative with our current transport systems.

Photo: express.co.uk

What is hyperloop travel?

Hyperloop is defined as a new form of ground transport currently in development by a number of companies, which could see passengers travelling at 700 miles an hour in floating pods within low-pressure tubes.

This is far from being a revolutionary idea by any stretch of the imagination since we've been using it for years and practically phased it out when digital came along. Its just the application will be completely different and on a larger scale this time. Not sure what I mean by this?

The idea of using low pressure or vacuum tubes as part of a transport system has a long heritage. The Crystal Palace pneumatic railway used air pressure to push a wagon uphill (and a vacuum to drag it back down) way back in Victorian south London in 1864. Similar systems using pneumatic tubes to send mail and packages between buildings have been in use since the late nineteenth century, and can still be seen in supermarkets and banks to move money around today.

Photo: City of Vancouver

However, it is entrepreneur Elon Musk who really reignited interest in the concept with his 'Hyperloop Alpha' paper in August 2013, which set out how a modern system would work -- and how much it would cost.

Image: SpaceX - The costs of a Hyperloop according to Elon Musk's Hyperloop Alpha paper

How does hyperloop travel work?

Hyperloop will be designed to carry both passengers and small freight at high speeds. The pods carrying passengers travel through tubes or tunnels from which most of the air has been removed to reduce friction. This should allow the pods to travel at up to 750 miles per hour, theoretically, though we're still a while away from making those top speeds commercially viable.

To continue to reduce friction hyperloop ditches the concept of wheels and the pods are designed to float on air skis, using the same basic idea as an air hockey table, or use magnetic levitation to reduce friction. Yes, man invented the wheel now man sees it is not good enough so man ditches the wheel in favour of skis.

Why would we need hyperloop travel?

Supporters argue that Hyperloop could be cheaper and faster than trains and car travel, and cheaper and less polluting than air travel. They claim that it is quicker and cheaper to build than traditional high-speed rail; as such, Hyperloop could take the pressure off gridlocked roads, making travel between cities easier and potentially unlocking major economic benefits as a result. This is all based on theory and time cost, reuse of the service and ROI over time and while these arguments have merit, we will only know once we have one available and begin to rival traditional transport mediums. Like bro, the whitepaper is dope and all, but let me see a workable MVP.

The latest break through

A competition helping to drive the development of the futuristic Hyperloop transport system has been won by engineering students from Munich. Run by the SpaceX aerospace company, the competition aims to refine the technologies that could underpin the super-fast transport system. In the latest round of the competition, the Munich team, Warr Hyperloop, outpaced rival capsules, which could manage speeds of only 88mph (Delft University) and 55mph (EPF Loop, from Switzerland), to beat its own record speed, 323km/h, set in the second competition, in September 2017.

While these kids work on getting the kinks worked out of transport Elon looks to go ahead in building the infrustruture for it all. In other words, they're building the car while Elon is trying to get all the roads set up.

Elon & the Boring company

Now you're probably asking where the hell are we going to lay these ungodly pipelines, we already have train tracks and roads all over the place we can't consider all the zoning requirements for a massive pipeline be it intercity travel or in local metros. So there, the idea is dead in the water right? Wrong! Elon does not take no for an answer and his boring company.

Musk set up The Boring Company which aims to make it easier and faster to dig the tunnels under and between cities that would make Hyperloop projects viable. The company plans to do this by digging smaller tunnels, making faster and more efficient digging machines, and replacing diesel-powered machines with electric ones.

Tweet from Elon Musk approving his first tunnel

Transport innovation requires adoption

Not too long ago there was a time we travelled by horse and cart and our cobblestone streets were filled with manure and one crazy guy said let's take a look at this motor vehicle thing and we all laughed. Who was going to buy those things? Where were we going to get all the fuel? What is it going to drive on there are no roads for it? Fast forward a few years and cars are ubiquitous, gas stations are everywhere, we spend trillions of dollars on roads to keep this transport system viable.

One that is by no means an efficient one, so call me crazy but I'm team Hyperloop. Anything that makes sense financially, ethically, environmentally and well naturally physically can and will succeed in the market and this idea looks to check all the boxes.

Oh, one more thing! If you're still undecided about Hyperloop, allow let me leave you one thought, you can travel at 1000 miles per hour. Don't you want to go fast? I want to go fast! Let's go fast!

Have your say

What do you think of hyperloop travel? Too far-fetched? Is it practical sanity and we're trying to preserve an unstainable status quo by rejecting innovation? Would love to hear your thoughts on this one.

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Sources:

• BBC
• ZDnet
• QZ.com
• Fortune.com