Hyperloop Just Completed Its First Test Run, and It Was Definitely Not High-Speed

Slow and steady wins the race?

July 17, 2017 9:00 am

The crazy high-speed transit system known as Hyperloop One has plans top speeds over 700 MPH. That’s what they call a transportation revolution. Using magnetic levitation technology, the aluminum and carbon fiber structure would bolt a person from point A to point B in record time.

But they’re definitely the “let’s take it slow” types.

Their recent and first full-scale test pulled a recorded 2 Gs in a vacuum environment and topped out at … wait for it …  just 70 MPH.

That’s not to say it wasn’t a success.

In a conversation with the company’s co-founder Shervin Pishevar and chief engineer Josh Giegel on CBS This Morning, Pishevar referred to the test run as their “Kitty Hawk moment.”

Hyperloop (2 images)

Pishevar went on to describe this test as having created the “sky in a tube, as if you’re flying at 200,000 feet in the air.” In the next go-round, they are shooting for 250 mph on their way to a goal of 750 mph, courtesy of the technical handiwork and inspiration of Elon Musk.

The team will continue to test in a vacuum, as Hyperloop’s premiere public test was a crash ‘n’ burn that lasted about two seconds in 2016.

But this is one situation where it’s completely acceptable to finish quite fast.

Don’t hold your breath for a train quite yet, though. The cost and regulation surrounded a transportation model built from scrap with no identifiable regulation yet is nothing short of an immense undertaking.

In the long run, this is one time-saver that’s going to take some time.

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