Tesla tests out Hyperloop pusher pod to 220mph
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has posted an image and a video to Instagram talking about the recent test that was conducted of the Hyperloop pusher pod. Musk says that the test involved sending the pusher pod alone down the tube just to see what it would do. That pusher pod wasn't pushing any student pods in this test.
Musk notes that some of the pusher pods needed a bit of help getting going because of the passive maglev being used. Once the pusher pod as moving it was able to quickly get up to 220 mph before things started heating up. At least that is what we assume Musk meant with his use of the flame emoji in his post. Musk wrote that the test was "kind of like racing with a tugboat."
Musk figures that the tech he and his team are using might be good for getting past 500 km/h, or about 310 mph in the next test. Musk says that the 310 mph is about half the speed of sound and with a "few tweaks or maybe tiny pieces" the test just might work.
Earlier this month we talked about the Hyperloop One XP-1 pusher pod. The pod is a carbon fiber shell around a custom-built levitating chassis. In that test earlier this month, the pod reached a top speed of 192 mph. In the first test of the pod it only got up to 79 mph.
The big success for that test we talked about August 7 is that it was the first time the Hyperloop Pod moved through the test track. Musk and his team were given the go ahead to create a system enabling travel between NYC and Washington D.C. in 29 minutes back in July. The team is still a long way from having a system ready to carry passengers.