Hyperloop UPV
The Hyperloop UPV concept is a levitating rail-free pod design. Using magnetic repulsion and air cushioning for levitation is expensive and can produce unpredictable forces. The pod is equipped with a hybrid system of permanent magnets and electromagnet units, being able to control lift, so it can hover from the top of the tube. That way, the pod doesn't need so much electricity to be lifted by itself. Propulsion is obtained through expansion of the air with a nozzle, located at the rear of the pod, achieving speeds of up to 1000 km/h. The turbine recovers energy from the flow allowing a more efficient journey. This clean tube layout is said to cut costs in up to 30% of the whole Hyperloop project (about 180m USD) and the possibility to comfortably fit more passengers.
Hyperloop pod competition
The outline of the original Hyperloop concept was made public in August 2013 by the release of a preliminary—or alpha level—design document by Elon Musk, with substantial design assistance from an informal group of engineers at both Tesla Motors and SpaceX who worked on the conceptual foundation and modelling of Hyperloop. The preliminary design called for a steel tube, operating in partial vacuum (nearly airless), utilizing pressurized vehicle "pods" to carry passengers or cargo that would ride on an air cushion driven by linear induction motors and air compressors. The alpha design included a notional route running from the Los Angeles region to the San Francisco Bay Area, paralleling the Interstate 5 corridor for most of its length, so that preliminary economic analysis might be done on the concept.
Responses to the design paper release included: "a flash of brilliance" and "hypercool" to "nothing new here" to "hype", "another science-fiction dream," and "completely impractical."