Hyperloop tech to get first public test after startup raises $80m

Hyperloop technology is moving at breakneck speed to soon become a reality. On 10 May, the rebranded startup Hyperloop One announced that it had successfully raised $80m (£55.5m) in financing, promising to conduct a complete systems test by the end of 2016. The revolutionary transportation technology will essentially enable high speed transportation between incredible distances.

Hyperloop One intends to build on Space X and Tesla CEO Elon Musk's alternative transportation technology, to come up with super-fast, pod-based transportation. Hyperloop technology would essentially make it possible for people to travel between Los Angeles and San Francisco in just under 30 minutes.

Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd said, "It's real, it's happening now, and we're going to demonstrate how this company is making it happen," the Reuters reported.

The company made the announcement for the name change — Hyperloop Technologies to Hyperloop One — on the eve of the first public test to be conducted on the propulsion technology. The company's decision to go ahead with a name change was partly to avoid being misidentified with its chief competitor Hyperloop Transportation Technologies. The firm also said that it will analyse the feasibility of developing hyperloop systems in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Los Angeles, according to a report by the Verge.

In related news, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies made its own announcement on 9 May, revealing that the company has licensed a different type of magnetic levitation system called passive maglev, which will power the firm's prototype.

Hyperloop One intends to develop a cargo transport system. The pods, which have been specifically designed to carry cargo, should ideally be able to travel at over 700mph, when inside the low-pressure tubes. The firm's upcoming public propulsion test will be the first of its kind to provide a sneak peak to how the technology would function.