Elon Musk's Hyperloop is getting a $100 million test track in California to see if the inventor's idea of transporting people at 800 miles per hour in a depressurized tube could actually work.
Navigant Research wrote that Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Inc. plans to build a five-mile stretch near Interstate 5 to create its test track after reaching an agreement with land owners around the right-of-way it needs.
The money needed to build the test is expected to come from the initial public offering by Hyperloop Transportation Technologies this year, according to Navigant Research. The blog said that a 400-mile Hyperloop from Los Angeles to San Francisco could cost as much as $8 billion.
The Hyperloop will used a series of magnets and fans to move passenger pods through depressurized tubes at about 800 miles per hour, getting people to and from Los Angeles and San Francisco in about 30 minutes.
"In theory, the Hyperloop will use much less electrical energy than a comparable magnetic
levitation train," wrote Steve Hanley on Gas2.org. "The pods will have a front mounted fan that diverts the air in front to the rear, reducing aerodynamic resistance. Riding on a cushion of air, it will have far less rolling resistance than a conventional wheeled vehicle.
"But will it work? The skeptics say no. But Elon Musk does have an enviable record of successfully tackling impossible tasks and making them work," Hanley continued.
Stephen Edelstein, of Green Car Reports, wrote that the Hyperloop will have to break through some daunting hurdles before it could become a reality.
"As a completely new form of transportation, the Hyperloop can't lean on existing infrastructure or industries to speed development. It all must be made from scratch," Edelstein wrote. "That's what has largely blocked widespread development of maglev ("magnetic levitation") trains — which are propelled by magnetic forces."
"Like the Hyperloop, maglev was intended to move large numbers of people quickly. Both also seem to be pitched as replacements for conventional wheeled trains. There are also more than a few questions remaining on the issue of whether shooting people through a tube at 800 mph will actually be practical," he continued.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.