First Full-Scale Test of Elon Musk’s Hyperloop One Was Underwhelming

The ultrafrast transportation system only traveled 70 miles per hour.

July 13, 2017 3:00 pm
Hyperloop One's XP-1 vehicle being prepared for testing in Nevada. (Hyperloop One)
Hyperloop One's XP-1 vehicle being prepared for testing in Nevada. (Hyperloop One)

The future of transportation might’ve just began with a whimper.

Hyperloop One, a high-speed transport concept, complete its first full-scale test on May 12, the company announced Wednesday. The pod-based system is designed to travel faster than a Boeing jet, but this test was just a fraction of that speed.

Originally envisioned by Elon Musk, the mind behind Tesla and SpaceX, Hyperloop sends a pod carrying passengers through a vacuum tube at 700 miles per hour. Using magnetic levitation, the test in May accelerated a metal, a stand-in for the pod, to 70 miles per hours pods down the Hyperloop One’s test track in Nevada.

Hyperloop One announced partnerships with engineering firms around the world, including General Electric, on Wednesday, according to MIT Technology Review. Part of a larger plan for Europe, those proposals will be the difference maker in Hyperloop being a UAE-only bust or a transportation revolution around the world. The company also revealed the XP-1, its 28-foot-long test pod that will be used for its round of tests with the goal of reaching 250 miles mph, The Verge reports.

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