Stop Trying To Make Hyperloop Happen
By: Ambient Reads
Tags: Tech, Tesla, Science, Future, Technology

Stop Trying To Make Hyperloop Happen

The Hyperloop, a seemingly futuristic concept, utilizes tubes and rails stretching for hundreds of miles would host pods which would ferry half a dozen passengers at supersonic high speeds. Ambient Reads Dec 22, 2020·3 min read

The Media Keeps Promoting Hyperloop

Business Insider boasts nearly 4 million subscribers on YouTube, and its latest attempt at promoting Elon Musk’s Hyperloop is just… painful.

Business Insider should know better; there’s no reason to promote this pipe dream.

What’s more maddening is the fact that Elon Musk is still credited with the invention of the Hyperloop. In the description of their video on YouTube, Business Insider explains, “Elon Musk introduced the concept of the hyperloop in 2013.”

But there’s just a tiny problem with that statement: Elon Musk didn’t create the concept. In fact, he’s more than two centuries behind the curve.

Pneumatic Tubes

George Medhurst can be credited for the mode of transportation Elon Musk is often given given credit for.

Medhurst proposed moving goods through cast-iron pipes using [compressed] air as a means of propulsion. His idea led to the first atmospheric railway which, despite its limited use, was a novelty at the time that actually worked despite it not being as economically viable as lokomotives.

This is why those tubes were relegated to just transferring money and documents at a bank’s drive-thru.

Why The Hyperloop Idea Should Die

20th Century Studios/Disney

Elon Musk might have found success with Tesla and electric cars, and even space, but he’s not making any strides with the Hyperloop for a myriad of reasons.

Better alternatives already exist

We have Boeing 747's which travels around 570 mph and Maglev trains which travel at about 260 mph.

Funnily enough, these two modes of transportation are show in the Business Insider video alongside the to computer-generated Hyperloop graphics which has been the pitch for the last several years.

Airplanes and trains also can host a lot more people. There’s no way the Hyperloop can offer cheap tickets with only 6 passengers riding in one pod (up to 15).

As for comfort, while a thing of the past on airplanes, would still outmatch the Hyperloop.

Boeing 747 and Maglev trains also have the Hyperloop beat in the safety tenfold. There’s wiggle room for the former in case, say for instance, one of engine’s malfunctions. And emergency breaks on the latter can avoid a catastrophic collision since reports of anyone on the track can be reported ahead of time.

For the Hyperloop,, it’s the exact opposite.

Safety is virtually non-existent

The Hyperloop wants to transport people at the speed of sound in a tube that needs to be sealed, resistant to warping due to the differences in temperature at the top and bottom, and resistance to the wind. It will also need to maintain it’s shape, size, and vacuum for hundreds of miles.

The differential of air pressure in the tube and atmospheric pressure weighing down on it can destroy every pod in the event that the tube is punctured. Air pressure will be moving with a ton of force and everybody will most certainly perish or be severely injured.

If someone wants to cause damage to the tube — it would be rather easy with heavy ammunition. American’s are in no shortage of guns and ammunition either. Piercing the tunnel from the outside or just straight up messing with pumps and other machinery would be like taking candy from a baby.

Practicality and efficiency

There are admittedly a lot more technical details and concepts at play here than meets the eye.

If you want a more detailed analysis of why the Hyperloop is a dud, check out YouTuber Thunderf00t who started debunking the Hyperloop concept years ago.

His most recent technical analysis offers the best in site yet on the challenges Hyperloop faces and why it will most likely never come to fruition.

You can watch the video here if the video does not load below.