# Hyperloop: Elon Musk's revolutionary transportation concept **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 27, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyperloop-elon-musks-revolutionary-transportation-concept/664701 "2013-07-27T22:18:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyperloop-elon-musks-revolutionary-transportation-concept/664701/121 "2013-08-15T18:24:49Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > It’s not the amount of breaks, it’s the time required for each one. We do long trips evey year, and while we probably stop every two - three hours, it’s only for a half hour, tops, usually more like 15 minutes. Food is eaten at Wendy’s, bathroom breaks are brief. If we had to stop for an hour every time, that would add 4-5 hours on a 12 hour drive, which is unacceptable. Electric car charging actually works even better in more frequent short bursts. 20 minutes of charging every 2 hours, or 30 minutes every 3 hours, would be sufficient if you could hit a Supercharger or the equivalent each time. That is, admittedly, not in the cards yet, but it’s not all that far off for major routes. An 800 mile trip needs about 2 total hours of charge time at a Supercharger, but that can be spread out however you want. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyperloop-elon-musks-revolutionary-transportation-concept/664701/122 "2013-08-16T20:18:18Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Having to stop for 40 minutes every 200 miles on a trip would certainly make me consider something other than a Tesla to drive it. > > On edit: from Tesla’s web site, the calc is even worse. 1 hour of charge per 62 miles driven (on a high power charger). A bit more than 40 minutes every 200 miles. More like 3+ hours. From the tesla website: > [@](#): > > Superchargers provide half a charge in about 20 minutes and are strategically placed to allow owners to drive from station to station with minimal stops So, stopping every 200 miles means a 30-40 minute break. You literally can’t spend more than 40 minutes at a supercharging station. However, your travel route is constrained to the stations… one of the problems all electric cars with these kinds of stations is facing, compared to cars, is that all cars burn the same kind of gas… somebody with a Tesla, travelling cross-country, needs to find the next Tesla station. The guy next to him in a BMW is looking for a BMW station. Remember back when we had to find a branch of our own bank to use our ATM cards? Ecch. Even now, people bitch about having to pay a $2 tip to use some other bank’s ATM. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyperloop-elon-musks-revolutionary-transportation-concept/664701/123 "2013-09-19T23:57:48Z")
Christ… [I think this thing is going to happen.](http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/hyperloop-sounds-crazy-simulation-says-it-just-might-work-4B11202787) Not right away, but some day. We’re witnessing an invention that could be historically on par with the invention of the locomotive. > [@](#): > > SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk’s plan to shunt humans through a pneumatic tube at speeds of 700+ miles per hour via a “Hyperloop” may boggle the mind. But new simulations confirm that the system won’t defy the laws of physics. > > According to Musk’s latest reveal, this alternative to the California high-speed-rail would involve specialized commuter pods that would hold up to 28 passengers, revved up by electromagnetic linear accelerators, sent screaming through low-pressure steel tubes on cushions of air. > > Ansys, a company that builds software simulations for the transportation industry, created a model based on details Musk proposed in a 57-page public document. When they put the virtual Hyperloop through a dry run, the engineers were impressed. > > “I’m convinced that the Hyperloop is going to work,” Sandeep Sovani, director of land transport strategy at Ansys, told NBC News. “I don’t immediately see any major issues or red flags.” (Although the firm has worked with Musk on a previous SpaceX project, it is not currently carrying out this Hyperloop evaluation in any official capacity.) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyperloop-elon-musks-revolutionary-transportation-concept/664701/124 "2013-10-02T12:49:20Z")
Leave it to Dilbert to hit the nail on its egg-shaped head: [Dilbert 2 Oct 2013](http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2013-10-02/). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyperloop-elon-musks-revolutionary-transportation-concept/664701.md?page=6)