During a recent Q&A session on Monday, Buttigieg discussed the Biden administration’s approach to new and emerging transportation innovations. “We’re all about exciting ideas that could make a difference. But whether we’re talking about [electric vehicles] or high speed rail, technologies that exist today—that could make a difference today—is where we have to begin,” he said. 

Buttigieg also noted that Musk’s Hyperloop idea is “super interesting” and one that probably deserves to be explored. However, the US Transport Secretary also noted that “we’ll probably not try it on our dime.”

Buttigieg highlighted that Hyperloop technologies are still untested in the real world. He also expressed reservations about the feasibility of the system’s design. Buttigieg’s concerns echo the points made against the idea by skeptics in the past, some of whom have noted that the Hyperloop’s use of near-vacuum tunnels would make the system difficult and expensive to maintain. 

Buttigieg, for his part, highlighted that the US lags far behind other developed nations in the quality, functionality, and extent of high-speed rail systems. Even without countries like Japan in the picture — which has a mature high-speed rail system — the US still lags behind other countries such as Uzbekistan, which has a high-speed rail line able to run at 155 mph. 

The US, on the other hand, has a “high-speed” NYC to D.C. Amtrak Acela route that averages speeds of about 66 mph. “Why should a European citizen or a Japanese citizen or, for that matter, someone in Turkey or Morocco have access to better passenger rail? There’s no good reason,” Buttigieg said. 

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As mentioned above, SpaceX just wrapped up its fourth Hyperloop competition in two years. Of the 21 teams that won slots in the event, only four were judged by SpaceX to be ready for speed runs. Of those four, the German team TUM Hyperloop (formerly WARR Hyperloop) reached a top speed of 288 mph (463 km/h, 128 m/s) before the pod suffered visible damage and performed a flawless emergency stop, pulling dozens of Gs and coming to a halt in just 50-100m.

In a nominal outcome, TUM Hyperloop anticipated that their fourth-generation pod could reach a top speed of more than half the speed of sound (~380+ mph, 600+ km/h). In 2018, they achieved a spectacular top speed of 290 mph, just slightly edging out Pod IV’s pre-anomaly performance this year. The runner-up, Swissloop, reached a still-impressive top speed of ~160 mph (260 km/h), a demonstrating of just how far ahead of its peers TUM/WARR remains.

At the end of the day, speed records are just icing on the Hyperloop Competition cake, following the main motivation of offering an almost unbeatable applied engineering learning opportunity for student groups around the world.

Hyperloop Alpha?

Assuming SpaceX and/or The Boring Company manage to pull off a minor engineering miracle and successfully build a “10km vacuum tunnel” in a single year, the company will have easily set itself up to host countless more competitions in the coming years. Additionally, assuming that “tunnel” refers to a full-scale tunnel capable of being built by The Boring Company, SpaceX’s new Hyperloop test facilities will be at or very near full-scale relative to the operational, human-rated transportation system that is the concept’s ultimate goal.

The test tunnel quite literally bored under the current above-ground Hyperloop track has a final usable diameter of 12 feet (3.7m), more than double the 6-foot (1.8m) diameter of the track currently used for competitions. Additionally, it would be even larger than Hyperloop One’s ~11 foot (3.3m) diameter Nevada test track. Ultimately, such a large tunnel would simultaneously give The Boring Company experience with building a true vacuum tunnel system and provide an opportunity for full-scale vacuum train (i.e. hyperloop) testing over unprecedented distances.

Maybe, just maybe, Elon Musk is thinking about putting a bit more time into turning his original Hyperloop concept into a finished product.

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TUM has been competing in SpaceX’s Hyperloop Pod Competitions since the first tournament was held in 2015. The team has created a reputation for creating incredibly quick pods over the years, even beating the 240 mph record set by Virgin Hyperloop in 2018 with an impressive 290 mph run. Even more notable was that TUM was able to accomplish this feat at SpaceX’s Hyperloop test track, which is only 0.8 miles long. 

Inasmuch as this was impressive, the student team from Munich is not resting on their laurels this year. SpaceX requires returning participants to the Hyperloop Pod Competition to introduce upgrades and revisions to their past pod designs, and that is exactly what TUM did. The new pod, christened simply as Pod IV, is almost 1.70 meters (5.57 feet) long, 50 cm (19.6 inches) wide and weighs approximately 70 kg (154 lbs), almost 8 kg (17.6 lbs) lighter than 2018’s Pod III, which hit a record-setting speed of 290 mph the previous year.

In a press release, TUM Hyperloop Team Manager Toni Jukic stated that the team is looking to hit a highly ambitious goal this year.  “This year we plan to reach at least half the speed of sound, over 600 kilometers per hour (372 mph),” he said. Putting that figure into perspective, Pod IV would have to go 40% faster than its pod last year, hitting 372 mph and decelerating to zero in 0.8 miles. 

Ambitious goal aside, this year will likely not be easy for TUM Hyperloop, especially considering that among its competitors is the UNSW Hyperloop team from Australia, which has a pretty unique experience in terms of rapid sustainable transportation. The UNSW has seen success in other innovative transport solutions, with students from the university’s Sunswift team setting a new efficiency record at the World Solar Challenge using a solar racing car that completed a 4,100 km (2,500 mile) journey across Australia in just six days. 

In a statement to The Driven, UNSW Hyperloop team manager Harry Zhang noted that the team had to work really hard to make it to SpaceX’s competition. “It was quite grueling because we had to apply to compete, then do several design packages over the summer and then finally get accepted in February to be invited to go to SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California. The people who do compete and make it through the multiple rounds of elimination are quite revered in engineering around the world,” he said. 

Another team that TUM Hyperloop would likely need to watch out for is Team Delft from the Netherlands. Delft won the coveted overall best pod award in SpaceX’s first Hyperloop Competition, and it was able to reach the finals last year together with TUM (then called Team WARR) and Team EPFLoop from Switzerland. Unfortunately, Delft experienced major issues in the finals, resulting in the team’s pod reaching speeds of only 88 mph before stalling. With a chance at redemption this year with a new, improved pod, Delft Hyperloop could be returning to the SpaceX Hyperloop Competition with a purpose. 

The SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition is scheduled to be held on July 21, 2019 at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA. Similar to last year’s competition, participants for this year’s tournament will be judged on one key metric: top speed.

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The Boring Company released new images revealing a freshly painted tunnel in white and a shaft that’s being constructed on a private lot at 120th Street and Prairie Avenue, roughly at the halfway point of the tunneling startup’s underground 2-mile test tunnel. Dubbed O’Leary Station after Patrick O’Leary, a 13-year SpaceX veteran who transitioned in 2017 to become Structures Engineering Designer for The Boring Company, the location is part of a proof-of-concept that aims to demonstrate the efficiency of lowering vehicles into transportation systems, perhaps directly from a vehicle owner’s home garage.

It’s all part of Musk’s grander vision to counter “soul-destroying traffic”, where people either drive their vehicles or are lowered into underground tunnels in Urban Loop pods and then transported at high speed on electric skates. Prior to gaining permission from Hawthorne’s city council for the construction of a “Loop Lift” garage-elevator system at the SpaceX-adjacent testing grounds, The Boring Company highlighted the progress of development for its subterranean, electric transport system by sharing a video of a Tesla Model X being whisked away underground.

The tunneling startup began construction of a tunnel entrance located directly across the street from SpaceX headquarters – Crenshaw Boulevard – in 2017. Not long after, a video showing a Tesla being lowered into the ground and images showing continued development of the tunnel walls pointed towards rapid progress at the test site. More importantly, ongoing research and development in the project would pave the way for future initiatives across the U.S., as the company looked to secure regulatory approval for city-scale projects in major metros like Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore.

Updated October 21, 2018: Shortly after we published this story, Elon Musk took to Twitter to confirm that The Boring Company is near completion of its first tunnel and will be holding a Boring Co. opening event on Monday, December 10, 2018. 

The Boring Company’s recently shared photos are a good indicator that the various components in its proof-of-concept project are starting to come together. The photo of the 20-plus-ft-in-diameter hole in the ground, or tunnel shaft, is in the same residential location where Teslarati photographers Pauline Acalin and Tom Cross recently spotted excavation taking place. The location, now understood to be O’Leary Station, will be the site for The Boring Company’s “garage-elevator” concept, as well as a more convenient point access for maintenance and eventually the permanent removal of tunnel boring machine (TBM) segments.

The concept elevator when complete will not be open to the public but instead used as an internal testbed for moving vehicles in and out of the private residence, which the company acquired. Cars would enter the tunnel from the SpaceX campus near Crenshaw Boulevard, move through the tunnel and on to the garage at O’Leary Station and then back to headquarters.

“It’s an important part of the longer-term vision the company is trying to build,” said The Boring Company spokesperson Jane Labanowski.

Before and after photos of the underground tunnel, which will be used to zip vehicles on platforms powered by electric motors, show a freshly painted inner wall in white.

Photos of The Boring Company tunnel in July 2018 (left) and October 2018 (right)

The Boring Company looks to extend its tunneling project into the west side of Los Angeles and apply learnings from its test tunnel and streamline the process for tunnel building. Unlike traditional underground tunnels for passenger vehicles, Boring Co.’s tunnels will be smaller and able to maintain a vacuum in order to support Hyperloop transportation. Reducing the tunnel diameter by 50% will also reduce the cross-sectional area of the tunnel by a factor of four.

Musk noted in his speech at TED2017 that having a smaller tunnel just large enough for a vehicle will cut 75% of the time associated with digging, thereby introducing significant cost savings. The Boring Company’s tunnel boring machine will also look to install tunnel walls continuously while it digs, thus eliminating the need to pause operations and speeding up the process entirely.

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With any luck to next year’s competitors, one or several of those 2019 entrants may once more smash the 2018 world speed record, faster than any production car in history at a whiplash-triggering 467 km/h (290 mph).

With that 290 mph top speed confirmed after WARR’s third 2018 pod run, the Technical University of Munich (TUM) student-led operation solidified itself – for the second time in a row – as the team to beat, breaking their own 2017 Competition 2 speed record of 324 km/h (202 mph) by nearly 50%, a record that itself smashed WARR’s own 90 km/h (~56 mph) top speed record from the inaugural Hyperloop Competition just six months prior. Now the proud holder of three of three Hyperloop Competition top-speed trophies, all eyes will once more be on WARR in anticipation of yet another spectacle of smashed records.

As noted on SpaceX’s website, that fourth upcoming competition – scheduled for the summer of 2019 – features two major updates to the rules and winning criteria.

As with previous competitions, the competition will be judged solely on one criteria [sic]: maximum speed with successful deceleration (i.e. without crashing) and all Pods must be self-propelled.

1. Teams must use their own communications system. SpaceX will not provide its on-Pod communications system, otherwise known as the Network Access Panel (NAP).

2. Pods must be designed and tested to propel themselves to within 100 feet of the far end of the tube before stopping. This can take the form of a single main run to that point, or a “slow crawl” after the Pod’s main run has been completed. 

In essence, SpaceX is continuing to gradually remove crutches, encouraging student teams to become more and more independent, especially useful for returning groups. Communication with pods is surprisingly difficult, as any solution chosen must function reliably, wirelessly, and in vacuum conditions, meaning that 2019 competitors will face another major challenge while designing new pods or updating older entrants.

Meanwhile, the decision to require pods to either be able to accurately stop with an error of less than 2% the test Hyperloop’s length (100 feet) or be capable of multiple modes of propulsion (i.e. top-speed runs and “slow-crawl” without assistance from its designers) should add another level of difficulty and intrigue to 2019’s Hyperloop competition. Critically, returning teams – if accepted – will be required to significantly modify their existing pod or design a new pod if they wish to compete in 2019.

Catch SpaceX’s 2018 Competition below and visit SpaceX.com/Hyperloop in the event that you are a student, have a team, and want to build your very own super-fast Hyperloop pod.

For prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket recovery fleet check out our brand new LaunchPad and LandingZone newsletters!

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The property lies along the path of the Boring Company’s proposed 6.5-mile long proof-of-concept tunnel that would run from northeast Westchester to Brentwood, one of the most traffic-congested sections in the West Los Angeles area. The tunnel system, a section of which seems to be nearing completion based on recent social media teasers from The Boring Company, would run under Sepulveda Blvd. and right across Culver City.

The location of the land purchased by the company was initially tipped off to us by Robert of the Talking Tesla podcast, who posted a photo of the site as a response to a tweet from the tunneling startup. The location, which could be seen on Google Maps, appears to have been used previously as a wood storage area. The land itself was sold through Marcus & Millichap, a commercial real estate brokerage firm. Marcus & Millichap was offering the land for $4.7 million, and as public records show, on February 1, 2018, it was purchased for a price of $4.6 million.

Note: “The Boring Company” logo added to the Google Maps Streetview for emphasis

The Sepulveda Blvd. lots were purchased by Jadejams Property LLC, which was newly incorporated in January 2018. On February 1, Jadejams purchased the land from Marcus & Millichap. Filings submitted to the office of the Secretary of State of the State of CA reveal that Jadejams Property LLC is listed with a business address of 12200 Crenshaw Blvd., which is the street adjacent to SpaceX’s headquarters and right above the Boring Company’s test tunnel. Furthermore, Jadejams Property LLC’s filings also list The Boring Company as its sole manager. Jared Birchall, who is linked to Elon Musk through Neuralink, is listed as the person who completed Jadejams Property LLC’s filing.

The Boring Company’s Loop stations are designed to be small loading zones and exits where passengers could use for access to the company’s underground tunnel system. Passengers in the Loop system would be carried from one destination to another in an electric-powered pod, which would be manufactured by Tesla and be capable of transporting up to 16 passengers at a time. The Loop system will not use vacuum sealed tunnels and hence, will not support hyperloop transport. Nevertheless, the pods in the Loop would still be able to reach speeds of up to 150 mph, thanks to an eight-wheel design that would be fitted on the sides of the vehicle. The Loop system is set to be used by the Boring Company in the Chicago-O’Hare high-speed transport system, which is set to begin in the near future.

According to Elon Musk, The Boring Company would be offering free demo rides on the Hawthorne test tunnel soon. If the company’s recent social media uploads from the tunneling startup are any indication, test rides in the test tunnel would be both an exhilarating and colorful experience for passengers.

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Following his update on SpaceX’s Earth-to-Earth BFR transportation, Musk issued an open invitation to the Boring Company’s upcoming information session on Thursday, which is set to be held at the Leo Baeck Temple in 1300 N Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA at 7:00 p.m. PST. Musk noted that The Boring Company would be presenting and taking questions about its tunneling plans for Los Angeles.

Musk’s update on the Boring Co.’s information session prompted hundreds of responses from his followers on Twitter, several of whom inquired if the town hall meeting will be livestreamed online. Responding to one of his Twitter followers, Musk confirmed with a simple “Yes.”

Yes

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 16, 2018

The Boring Company’s upcoming information session in LA could comes at an opportune time. Just recently, the tunneling startup and its recently-granted exemption from environmental review met strong opposition from two neighborhood groups in the LA area. The two groups — the Brentwood Residents Coalition and the Sunset Coalition — recently filed a lawsuit alleging that the local government violated state law when it exempted the Boring Company’s 2.7-mile proof-of-concept tunnel under Sepulveda Boulevard from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

In a recent Instagram post, Musk revealed that a Boring Company tunnel is nearly complete, and once final regulatory approvals are completed, the tunneling startup would begin offering free rides to the public. Musk also reiterated The Boring Co.’s commitment to pedestrians, stating that when the tunnels are fully operational, the system “will always give priority to pods for pedestrians and cyclists” at a cost less than the price of a bus ticket.

Last December, The Boring Company filed for a tax exclusion to the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority. The documents revealed that the Boring Company would be using a special type of concrete for its tunnels. The documents also outlined the startup’s plans of building a batch plant and carousel system to manufacture and transport concrete rings, which will be used to line the company’s projects.

The Boring Company is only a year old, but it is already taking definitive strides in the transportation industry. The tunneling startup, for one, has already outlasted two of its rival bidders in the proposed, high-profile downtown Chicago-O’Hare transport system. The Boring Company also finished a funding round recently, with an SEC filing revealing that the tunneling startup has raised $113 million in equity.

Watch the livestream of the Boring Company’s information session below.

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Musk’s Boring Company updates on Thursday started with an announcement that the company’s tunnel under Los Angeles is nearly complete. Musk uploaded a video of the tunnel on his Instagram page, where he stated that the project is just pending final regulatory approvals. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO also noted that The Boring Co. would be offering free demo rides to the public “in a few months.”

In his Instagram post, Musk personally extended his appreciation to everyone who aided in making the LA proof-of-concept tunnel a reality. Musk cited strong support from the public, as well as from government officials and regulators, as critical to the completion of the Boring Company’s projects.

In line with his statements back in March, Musk noted that once the tunnels are operational, The Boring Co. would be giving priority to commuters who do not have vehicles of their own, using an underground bus-like system called an Urban Loop. In his Instagram update, Musk stated that the cost of a ride in the Urban Loop would be less than that of a bus ticket.

Musk’s later tweets provided even more detail to the Boring Company’s projects. According to Musk, the company is already starting work on the DC to New York route — a far more ambitious plan that, if successful, would enable commuters to travel from New York to DC in just 29 minutes. Apart from this, Musk also noted that The Boring Co. is aiming to start working on a Los Angeles – San Francisco route next year. These projects will entail the use of pressurized pods in near vacuum tunnels using Hyperloop technology.

Already started DC to NY route.
Hopefully start LA to SF next year. That will be true @Hyperloop w pressurized pods in near vacuum tunnels & faster than jetliner.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2018

One of the most notable tidbits of information that Musk dropped on Twitter, however, was the mention of “branch loops” in the Boring Company’s tunnels. One of his followers, Michael Baylor, called on Musk to build a stop near Vandenberg, in order to provide space fans an easy way to attend SpaceX’s launches. Responding to the Twitter user, Musk stated that such stops would indeed be possible.

“A cool thing about the design is that’s easy to incorporate branch loops to serve small to mid-size cities without slowing down the main loop at all,” Musk responded.

While only a year old, the Boring Company is starting to make strides in the transportation industry. Earlier this year, the tunneling startup outlasted two of its rival bidders in the proposed, high-profile downtown Chicago-O’Hare transport system. The Boring Company recently finished a funding round as well, with an SEC filing revealing that the tunneling startup has raised $113 million in equity.

Watch Elon Musk’s clip of The Boring Company’s LA tunnel in the video below.

First Boring Company tunnel under LA almost done! Pending final regulatory approvals, we will be offering free rides to the public in a few months. Super huge thanks to everyone that helped with this project. Strong support from public, elected officials & regulators is critical to success. As mentioned in prior posts, once fully operational (demo system rides will be free), the system will always give priority to pods for pedestrians & cyclists for less than the cost of a bus ticket.

A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on May 10, 2018 at 6:49pm PDT

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Musk’s updates came late Saturday on Twitter. Expanding on a tweet he posted last August about the SpaceX Hyperloop pusher pod, Musk candidly stated that the new goal for the upcoming speed test would be “kinda nutty.” Accelerating from a standstill to a blazing 383.7 mph (half the speed of sound) in around 1.2 km, after all, is a pretty challenging endeavor.

Despite the risks, however, Musk lightly joked that the upgraded Hyperloop pod’s speed test would be exciting nonetheless.

“This is kinda nutty for such a short distance, so could easily end up being shredded metal, but exciting either way,” Musk tweeted.

This is kinda nutty for such a short distance, so could easily end up being shredded metal, but exciting either way

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 8, 2018

During a post on Instagram last year, Musk said that the SpaceX team decided to see how fast the pusher pod could go on its own, considering that the machine had mostly been used to push some of the pods of the competing student teams. According to Musk, the Hyperloop pusher pod was able to hit 220 mph before things started heating up. Thus, if the machine could dash to half the speed of sound this time around, it would be a notable accomplishment.

We took the SpaceX/Tesla Hyperloop pusher pod for a spin by itself a few days ago to see what it could do when not pushing student pods (some need a push to get going, e.g. passive maglev). Got up to 355 km/h (220 mph) before things started ?. Kind of like racing with a tugboat. Maybe able get past 500 km/h (about half speed of sound) next month with a few tweaks or maybe tiny pieces …

A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Aug 30, 2017 at 10:27pm PDT

The upcoming speed test of the upgraded SpaceX Hyperloop pusher pod comes as the 2018 Hyperloop Pod Competition draws nearer. The 2018 competition, which is set to take place on July 22, 2018, will see teams of students from across the globe compete in a contest to see which could come up with the best design for a Hyperloop pod. According to SpaceX’s page for the competition, teams this year will be focusing on one particular metric — maximum speed.

Over the past couple of years, WARR Hyperloop, a team from the Technical University of Munich, has managed to win the competition. Last year, the students built a lightweight pod that was propelled with a 50 kW electric motor and connected to polyurethane wheels. During the contest, WARR Hyperloop’s 190-lb machine was able to hit 202 mph, blowing away its two toughest competitors — Paradigm Hyperloop and SwissLoop.

WARR Hyperloop is preparing to defend their title for this year’s competition. According to the group’s official website, the WARR Hyperloop team for 2018 will be comprised of 45 members from 16 different countries. A brand new pod is also under development.

As we noted in a previous report, Elon Musk’s Hyperloop idea has inspired Dubai to commit to the project. Just recently, a full-scale prototype model of a Hyperloop One passenger pod was unveiled in Dubai’s City Walk Mall. The 8.7-meter-long, 3.3-meter-diameter pod featured various plush amenities, including BMW-designed seats, generous legroom, and a lighting scheme that would not look out of place in a sci-fi movie.

Dubai’s Hyperloop system is expected to start operations as early as 2020, with the ultra-high-speed transport system connecting key cities in the region, such as Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Watch a recap of the 2017 Hyperloop Pod Competition below.

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The 8.7-meter-long, 3.3-meter-diameter prototype, which represents a 1:1 model of the Hyperloop One passenger pod, came to fruition from the efforts of the Virgin Hyperloop One team and Dubai’s Road Transport Authority. The exhibit on the Middle Eastern mall was opened to the public, though its first visitor was Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai’s Crown Prince.

The Virgin Hyperloop One full-scale model displayed in Dubai was designed with luxury in mind. In an interview with Khaleej Times, Abdulredha Abu Alhassan, executive director of the Rail Planning and Projects Development at the RTA, described the plush amenities that were showcased in the prototype pod.

According to the RTA executive, the cream and beige seats of the Hyperloop One model were designed by German car firm BMW. While Abu Alhassan did state that passengers would have to be buckled in at all times due to the Hyperloop One’s speed, passengers could look forward to an enjoyable experience due to the pod’s interactive entertainment system.

“There will be no windows. However, there will be interactive entertainment screens at the armrest of the seats. The seats have been designed in a very futuristic manner,” the executive said.

The interior of the pod was also incredibly futuristic with its blue and red neon lights, invoking an almost Tron-like atmosphere. From the images of the pod’s interior, it appears like Dubai’s Hyperloop system would be a comfortable ride as well, as evidenced by the generous amount of legroom shown in the full-scale prototype model.

In a statement to Dezeen, Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde expressed his optimism about the coming of the next-generation transport system. Roosegaarde was also particularly impressed by the Virgin Hyperloop One’s interior design.

“It’s a great design, really like a bubble of material and light. I can’t wait to use it to travel in 12 minutes to Abu Dhabi soon,” the Dutch designer said.

Dubai’s Hyperloop system is expected to debut as early as 2020, where it is expected to provide a faster alternative for commuters who travel between key areas in the region. With Hyperloop technology, traveling from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, which usually takes 90 minutes by car, would be possible in 12 minutes.

#Dubai Crown Prince unveils the initial design of the @HyperloopOne's
pod in the presence of Virgin Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd. pic.twitter.com/Q3WD63WzOv

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) February 22, 2018

As we noted in a previous report, Dubai has proven to be a supporter of the Hyperloop concept. The next-generation transportation system, which was initially conceived by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, utilizes a linear electric motor to accelerate and decelerate an electromagnetically levitated pod through a low-pressure tube. This design enables the Hyperloop pods to achieve speeds of up to 700 mph without any turbulence, allowing passengers to enjoy a comfortable ride. A successful test for the Hyperloop was accomplished by the Virgin team back in August 2017 in Nevada, where a pod traveled roughly 500 meters and reached speeds of 190 mph.  

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