Charging To The Future: Hyperloop One Began Testing Propulsion System In The Nevada Desert

Hyperloop One, Elon Musk's high speed transportation concept held its first propulsion test on Wednesday morning on a half mile track built in the Nevada desert. The propulsion system used a metal sled that went on a two-second trip, with speeds of about 116 miles per hour before crashing into a pile of sand.

According to cnet.com, the propulsion system shot the metal sled along a short track at 2.4Gs, which is roughly equals to accelerating from 0 to 53 miles per hour in a second. The company is attempting to bring Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's vision of a futuristic transportation to life. The company imagines the hyperloop network to be a series of tubes that connect metropolitan areas. The low pressure tube inside the tube can hold between 10 to 30 passengers at a time. Using magnets, the pods will most likely reach speeds of up to 700 miles per hour.

The company hopes to do a full system test before the year ends. The company was recently awarded over $80 million in a second round of funding. They then launched Hyperloop One Global Challenge, a competition among individuals, companies, and government to be the first to host a hyperloop network. The competition will provide the technology while the competitors submit their comprehensive case of how that should be used in their location. Deadline for entry will be on September 15, 2016, with the winner being announced in March 2017.

 Earlier this week, a company from Los Angeles called Hyperloop Transportation Technology (HTT) which is led by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) revealed it wants to use magnetic levitation to run the Hyperloop. CBS San Francisco also reported a third company from the city to be working on its own system. Officials say that they expect the final Hyperloop product to be launched by 2020, and is believed to be ready for passengers by 2021.