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Adjacent to SpaceX headquarters, 25 teams gathered for another Hyperloop Pod Competition. This time the winner would be judged by how quickly they could go down the 1.25 kilometer (about .77 miles) track. On the final day of competition, three teams advanced to the finals and had the chance to push their pod to the limit.
With a speed of just over 200 miles per-hour, the Warr (pronounced Varr) team from the Technical University of Munich handily beat the two other finalists with its small, but quick pod. Weighing just 80 kg (176 pounds) and powered by a 50kw motor, the vehicle was essentially a small electric car built specifically for winning the competition.
[...] At the end of the competition, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk mused that there's no reason why future pods in the competition couldn't hit 500 to 600 miles per-hour on the 1.25 kilometer track. Of course that means that there will be another Hyperloop Pod Competition sometime next year and who knows, maybe we'll see pods hitting the speeds that'll make the mode of transportation truly rival air travel.
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2017/08/27/hyperloop-pod-competition-winner-hits-200-mph/
(Score: 2) by forkazoo on Monday August 28 2017, @11:24PM
Passengers probably wouldn't "explode," regardless. That's a bit sensationalistic. But if a pod "derails," it would imply the tube is breached, so air rushes into it and the vacuum stops being a potential danger. If the pod develops a small hole, it will take a while to lose air pressure to the tube, which can be detected and dealt with. It's not significantly more dangerous than being in an airplane, and a lot easier to just stop and wait for help than an airplane.