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According to early reports the Hyperloop's initial tests (open air tests) were a success at their test track in North Las Vegas. Image.
It didn't go far but it did work. A metal sled accelerated from zero to 116 mph in 1.1 seconds, or about 2.4 Gs of force. It traveled little more than 100 meters, then stopped, kicking up a cloud of sand in the process.
The Verge has a couple articles Here, before the test and test pictures here.
Pencilled in for Q4 2016, however, is what the company is describing as its "Kitty Hawk" moment - a reference to the Wright Brother's first flight - where it plans to run a full-scale test track. Expected to be more than two miles of low-pressure tube, the pod inside should run at over 700 mph if all goes as planned.
Even if the system scales as Hyperloop One expects it to, human passengers may not be welcome, at least initially. The company is looking to cargo transportation as the most likely use for a commercial Hyperloop system - presumably because boxes and crates are less fragile than families - with interest already from a number of countries in a potential logistics system that would run through tubes and underground tunnels.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 12 2016, @10:30AM
None of the individual components of the Hyperloop are new except
adequate, cheap computing power to synchronize operations at near Mach 1. Ooops!
Anyway, this is not going to "transform transportation".
Except for the fact you can get produce picked in California the very same day in New York. All at a cheaper cost (amortized) than train.
I wonder what something like Wal-mart, which is a logistical powerhouse, could do with shipping anywhere that day? What would it do to inventory costs?
freight does not need to be moved at extreme speed
Which is why FedEx next day air is hemorrhaging money. Which is why automotive parts suppliers source from many different vendors in case of hiccups. Which is why the local sushi place gets overnight fresh fish daily.
What you meant to say is you don't require extreme speed.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday May 12 2016, @03:20PM
So you say the credit for the Hyperloop should go to Intel?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 12 2016, @05:32PM
I'm saying someone dense enough to compare the technology from the 60s to today without acknowledging the thing he's typing on is probably free from the ravages of intelligence or is a rogue chatbot that escaped a BBS and still thinks 640k is good enough.