Hypersonic Hyperloop ET3: L.A. To TOKYO in Less Than 2 Hours

How fast do you want to get there? Traveling these days is hard… I mean, where’s the convenience? I’ve seen scheduled flight itinerary reaching 65 hours! Have flown 30 hour jaunts to SE Asia… It really sucks. If there were a way of getting back to convenience while improving travel experience, would you be on board with that?

So, question is: why Hyperloop-type evacuated tube transport tech? (HETT) Why ride in a Hyperloop capsule instead of an airplane, train, car, or ship? What’s the difference that’d make you want to go that way?

When Elon Musk dropped his 58-page Hyperloop Alpha document on the world, his idea wasn’t new …not even when he first teased the idea in 2012. On page 2, mid-way down, he pays just acknowledgment to Robert Goddard, Rand Corporation, and ET3 – for their ideas and efforts toward low-pressure environment transport technology.

Goddard was brilliant, Rand Corporation did a great study on the idea in the early 1970s – a system that could theoretically achieve 14,000 mph… sounds crazy, right? In order to travel at that speed, you’d have to go in a straight line. Meaning no curvature of the earth – that requires straight tunnels being drilled between main travel points. Not practical. ET3 is more recent with a theoretical limit of 4000 mph. Going above 4000 causes anti-gravity. The company lacks funding to date, but the ideas and physics were already more solid and thought out compared to Elon’s fan-driven Hyperloop concept.

ET3 principles traveled to Southern California to visit Elon and his “compadres” at Space-X in 2013. During the visit, Elon’s top tech people suggested he support ET3’s efforts. He declined, then proceeded with releasing his Hyperloop idea – Daryl Oster, president, and founder of ET3 had his first patents granted by the USPTO in 1999. For Daryl, the idea went back a lot farther – to childhood after witnessing one of those tube document transport systems in action… like some banks still use. A bit ahead of Elon, like in the 1960s!

It’s important to acknowledge the significance of Musk’s entry and involvement in the overall scheme. Was Elon Musk’s idea a sandbagging effort to slow down the development of space environment – tube transportation technology on earth?

Musk’s engagement and promotion of the idea, in general, is significant. Mainly because he immediately authenticated tube transport technology. The talking heads on the major news networks openly acknowledged – “if this idea hadn’t come from Elon Musk, we wouldn’t be talking about it.”

In reading the paragraph in his spec report mentioned earlier, Elon suggests ET3 as being a non-performing entity. The reason for ET3s visit in 2013 was to gain Elon’s support and hopefully financial engagement. Unfortunately to date, the company’s achieved neither. Since that time, a lot of funding has been plowed into the various Hyperloop research and development efforts around the globe.

The expensively gained conclusion has forced these efforts to look more at ET3’s advantages while seeking ways around their valuable patents. I have to ask why and what’s really being gained by the approach when it’s only adding development costs, and proof of concept while delaying the timeline to adoption and buildout. Seems dumb, right?

How much opportunity have we missed by the delay? Where would things be today if Elon had simply written a check and launched a viable effort a lot sooner? Imagine how much further we would be ahead toward ultimate carbon dioxide reduction?

So, let’s get clear, we just recently crossed the threshold of 8 billion people on this planet November 18, 2022. There’s no better way to travel than Hyperloop-type tech that moves this many people efficiently and sustainably. Passenger carrying capacity for moving extreme passengers and freight is unmatched when the correct tube design is employed.

Since August 2013, a lot’s played out. Today, we have the most significant developments going on in Europe, the Middle East, and North America. The most notable to date is Virgin Hyperloop with a working model that resembles little of Elon’s original concept and closer to ET3. No propulsion fans, no air hockey levetation… instead, mag lev and linear motors in a vacuum environment. That’s ET3. But, there are differences.

So: The purpose of this site is not to bash or derail the efforts of any one project, but rather to bring attention to the larger picture, the varying technologies, and their respective strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, we want the best of all these competing efforts to come together into a singular global standard. Seamless travels with no transition terminals – should be our number one goal. Most importantly, we want it to happen and the best designs and feasible ideas will facilitate that end.

Also, this is a technology that’s long overdue for lots of reasons. So, let’s also talk about the “why” you want this more than anything while speaking to the strengths of the designs that can best serve up the most meaningful benefits. And, let’s talk about the challenges too. But I’d like to approach this in a problem-solving way with the assumption that we’re going to build this thing.

I’ll drop a little hint about where things could go from here and what seems to already be in the works: As everyone is figuring out the hard way, in contrast – ET3 never proposed fans and pneumatics as a propulsion method in a low-pressure atmosphere. Instead, their design would employ maglev, linear accelerator propulsion, and a near space-like vacuum environment. This is now the direction Hyperloop designs are heading. What happens when you throw a rock in space? Stay tuned, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover!

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P.S. About me:

My name is Anthony Toigo, I’m a writer/entrepreneur who’s been involved in this space since early 2006. That’s when I first connected with the idea of tube transport technology. I met Daryl Oster of ET3 in Q3 2007 after a search for companies actively pursuing the concept. During my search, there were mentions of vacuum train projects and such, but nothing like ET3.

The more I learned through Daryl and began to understand the significance and benefits of evacuated tube transportation – Hyperloop type systems, the more I realized – moving around this way will become a first choice transport mode that’s as inexpensive as cell phones, ubiquitous, inclusive and as convenient as hopping into your car.

I hope you’re as excited as I am, and that you’ll be joining me as the major players move our world into this promising new transport realm. Together, we can encourage or maybe even drive the efforts toward a capsule switching, 4000 mph global transport network that’s convenient, faster than jets, totally green and 90% efficient. Like an internet for people and things.

I’m dreaming of the end of layovers in outdated terminal designs that no longer serve… the end of gruelling travel! Most important, the beginning of a super clean, extremely rapid, safe mode of transport designed to serve us well into the future. Let’s go!