The is so much hype and wishful thinking surrounding the hyperloop which obscures the pseudo science and illogical & sometimes conflicting ideas.
Hyperloop is a very complicated maglev. Have you seen many maglev trains in your lifetime, why do we think that all of a sudden a more complex version will succeed where a simpler version is too complex to be viable.
Pseudo Science & Hype
Some of the crazy ideas that I’ve seen in artists renderings
- Air bearings, in a vacuum
- Clear Hyperloop tubes – must be some really fancy new & cheap material. How about just extruding the tube, you can have that idea for free
- Solar Panels installed flat on top of the tube – roughly 30% less solar collected by flat panels
Hyped up hyperloop slogans
- Closer than you think – impossible it doesn’t exist in my world
Robert Goddard first put the idea forward in 1910, Elon just gave it a cool name.
Hyperloop is sounding more and more like a cult each time I revisit it.