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The Hyperloop Industrial Complex

Posted by timothy on from the watch-for-the-rent-seekers dept.

Jason Koebler writes: Two and a half years after Elon Musk pitched the technology, actually traveling on a hyperloop is still theoretical, but its effect on business is not. There is a very real, bonafide industry of people whose job description is, broadly speaking "make the hyperloop into a tangible thing." The SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Design Weekend at Texas A&M University earlier this weekend was the coming out party for people in that industry.

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  1. Fear not for your batteries! by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 4, Informative

    How much does the battery cost to replace?

    Or is the battery non-expendable?

    This is what a special-interest framing argument looks like. It puts the question into the reader's mind, and without context (and noting that most readers don't take the time to think about things) it makes it seem like an insurmountable problem.

    (Viz: "Ted Cruze's Canadian birth will be a problem for him, I'm just 'sayin".)

    Tesla is addressing the battery issue directly, with a buy-back program.

    Also note that Lithium batteries have an exponential usage lifetime ('sorta), which means that once you've depleted your battery to 90% of it's capacity, it'll stay at that level for a long time.

    Also also note that a battery which is taken out of service will still have 85% of it's charge capacity for a really long time, and there are a lot of uses for such storage. A factory building filled with old Tesla batteries could help smooth out electrical grid demand - supplying power during peak times, and recharging at night.

    (Put that building full of batteries next to a wind farm, or inside the industrial area of a large city.)

    Again, the batteries will keep 85% of their capacity for a long time, and if the application doesn't care much about space or weight, this makes a good use for older batteries.

    Also, no one has even begun thinking about recycling the batteries. Ten years from now we might start thinking about reforming batteries, and making removable/reusable cases with the option to recycle the lithium inside. Like we now do with lead.

    And finally, all of this information is just a click away using this neat new service called "Google".

    Implanting doubts, uncertainty, and fear in the minds of readers is so much harder nowadays.