If Musk really wants to give this a push, how about a patent grant on Tesla battery patents used for this purpose?
Hyperloop
181–190 of 983 posts
Re: Hyperloop
#182The aerodynamic power requirements at 700 mph (1,130 kph) is around only 134 hp (100 kW) with a drag force of only 72 lbf (320 N) Mind blown.
But that's at a pressure of 100Pa (1/1000 atm). How much power does it take to maintain a vacuum of 1/1000atm in a tube hundreds of miles long? It seems this point is skipped over in the whitepaper, so perhaps its negligible. Edit: yes I was referring to the power to sustain a vacuum in a leaky system, of course no power is required to maintain a vacuum in a perfectly sealed system :)
How much power does it take to maintain a vacuum of 1/1000atm in a tube hundreds of miles long?
It doesn't require any power, if there are no leaks. The power required will be determined by the amount of leakage that is considered tolerable to the system.
Re: Hyperloop
#183So who wants to start a company? I'll uh...come up with the business plan. Seriously though, this would be an incredible project to work on. I wonder, outside of Elon Musk, who would take on the challenge?
Might Tony Hsieh champion a group pushing for LA to Vegas? I imagine SF-Vegas might have a roundabout route.
That could definitely make sense. Vegas might even put up some capital to make it easier for people to visit and put their hard earned dollars to good use.
I can also imagine that from an infrastructure standpoint building across desert you'd run into fewer obstacles, although that might be wishful / oversimplified thinking.
Re: Hyperloop
#184That capsule ( http://images.bwbx.io/cms/2013-08-12/0812_Hyperloop_605.jpg ) looks like a claustrophobic's nightmare. Otherwise very, very cool.
I'm not claustrophobic, but this image ever so slightly terrified me: http://i.imgur.com/lGD9bUP.png I have to wonder, would making the capsule the size of a small subway car completely destroy the economics of it?
They're talking about pods that can hold cars, so it doesn't seem that way. The cost does increase, but doesn't look to be a deal breaker.
Re: Hyperloop
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well the pod has compressor - so it literally can hit the fan :) The only thing I really dislike so far is the battery pack in the pod. I would have wanted to see something more elegant instead. And this way we halve the weight of the pod.
For the lack of space between the tube and the carrier, is wireless electrical transfer out of the question? Or is that not feasible with the amount of electricity being dealt with here?
My understanding is that putting the air power in the capsule is in part to make the tube simpler and cheaper to make and maintain.
Re: Hyperloop
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can get up and walk around on a plane.
Not for the first 30 minutes - which in this case is the entire trip.
I think one advantage of air travel is it's distracting. Busy flight attendants, announcements from pilots, plane moving to the runway, taking off... so there's less reason to concentrate on the lack of space while stuck in the seat.
Re: Hyperloop
#187Re: Hyperloop
#188I am intrigued, but not overwhelmed. Many of his reasons why his hyperloop is superior to high speed rail are not specific to the hyperloop. For example, you can put railway tracks up on pylons, too, with very little impact on the ground. It is common to do this in urban areas, but it is rarely done in rural areas because it is flat out cheaper to put it on the ground. I don't believe that an experimental tube is going to be somehow magically cheaper and easier to route and build than train tracks.
Now, I am not trying to defend California's HSR, specifically. I agree with Musk that it appears to be very poorly done. However, the answer, to my mind, is to do it properly rather than propose a wild experiment with hand-wavy arguments as to why it would be politically easier to do. Do you really think the special interests that are making HSR so difficult and expensive would say, "Oh, do whatever you like with your tube."?
Now, in an attempt to end on a positive note, I do like his proposal as a possible next step beyond HSR. Rail can go up to 350km/h currently (perhaps more in the future--why wouldn't California design with this goal in mind?), but Musk's hyperloop is proposed up to ~1000km/hr. It is definitely an idea worth exploring, but I think it falls far short as a serious alternative to the current high speed rail plans.
Re: Hyperloop
#189God damn it, Elon! It looks amazing but the logistics are just not adding up! 2-minute departure time scales? Good luck getting the future Hyperloop TSA to do that.
But, the numbers don't quite crunch for this to be a legitimate business (unless we are talking no returns for 25 years charging customers an average of 1500-3000 dollars per ride .. but the demand is not there for those prices).
Idea is awesome .. yes! Viable ... yes, yes!! A business ... idk. :(