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.
California High-Speed Rail
"Hyperloop" is an alternative system that Elon Musk has championed. He has criticized the high-speed rail project as too expensive and not technologically advanced enough (trains that are—according to Musk—too slow). On August 12, 2013 he released a high-level alpha design for a Hyperloop transit system concept which he claimed would travel over three times as fast and cost less than a tenth of the rail proposal. The following day he announced a plan to construct a demonstration of the concept. Musk's claims have been subject to significant debate and criticism, in particular that the costs are still unknown and likely understated, the technology is not proven enough for statewide implementation, the route proposed doesn't meet the needs of providing statewide transportation, and it does not meet the legal requirements of Proposition 1A and so would require a whole new legal underpinning. A flaw of the hyperloop is that it can carry far fewer passengers per trip compared to HSR.