Lifestyle
Hyperloop Competition Receives a Big Lift from SpaceX

If you did a timeline of all the major Elon Musk announcements in the last five years, it would have a lot circles on the X axis. One circle would include the Hyperloop white paper.
Musk “dropped” off the concept to the world back in 2013 and moved on. However, last year Musk and SpaceX introduced a Hyperloop pod competition for college students to take place at SpaceX’s test track in August 2016.
Most Elon Musk devotees probably know a bit about the Hyperloop white paper released in 2013 and how this “fifth mode” of transport offers a low-cost solution versus high-speed rail proposals floating around the U.S.
The Hyperloop concept from Musk involves a low-pressurized air tube structure — say from San Francisco to LA — and propels passengers in a “pod” compartment at speeds of more than 700+ mph. The pod shoots through this low-pressure tube with induction motors intermittently placed in the track that moves the compartment. These motors “would provide a reboost roughly every 70 miles,” according to the paper.
After seeing SpaceX land a rocket on a tiny barge in the ocean, this doesn’t seem so far-fetched. Companies like Hyperloop Technologies and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies are currently working on proof-of-concepts and test tracks.
In January 2016, SpaceX held the Hyperloop Pod design competition at Texas A&M and evaluated more than 124 concepts, which included best overall concept and innovation. Thirty plus university teams were picked to move on to competition weekend at SpaceX’s Hawthorne facility, where a mile long test track — six foot in diameter steel tube — is being built.
The MIT Hyperloop team won the best Overall Design Award while the Pod Innovation Award went to the Delft Univ. of Technology in the Netherlands. The event also awarded BadgerLoop, from the Univ. of Wisconsin, with the 3rd place and the Pod Technical Excellence award.

BadgerLoop’s pod will reach speeds of up to 200+ mph in a matter of 15 seconds with a run lasting approximately 43 seconds.
Being based in Chicago, I reached out to the BadgerLoop team in March and interviewed multiple members of the team, including a Co-President, the Electrical and Controls Manager and, of course with Hyperloop, the team’s Levitation Lead.
Teslarati: So how many students are on the BadgerLoop team?
David Van Veen, Operations Director: We have a 150 dedicated members helping in all aspects related to the competition and have about 75 student engineers working on the pod project.
Brett Sjostrom, Co-President: We have something special with this team, we’ve been engineering students for three or four years and BadgerLoop is going up against teams with much more experience. The MIT Hyperloop team is made up of graduate students and some of those folks interned at NASA, SpaceX and Boeing.
The aluminum sub track in Hawthorne will be flat and this allows the BadgerLoop team to move past the air bearings concept from Musk’s white paper. BadgerLoop is implementing a Halbach Arrays concept.
Sjostrom: Halbach arrays are a certain configuration of magnets that amplify the magnetic field on one side, and negate it on the other side of the array. Passing this array over the aluminum sub track creates eddy currents which give our pod its levitation.
Teslarati: How does your Hypeloop pod differ from other teams?
Van Veen: Other teams are using passive Halbach arrays which provide just vertical levitation but there’s no forward propulsion to it.
Bill Carpenter, Levitation Lead: Our design creates drag from the levitation but by spinning the wheels — using drag — in the opposite direction, we can create thrust to move the pod forward. Our pod has a total of ten Halbach Array wheels, four in the front and back, and two in the middle.
So, it’s negating our drag and providing a truly frictionless ride. It’s also providing that contactless stability in all directions. Plus, it’s an active system so we can control it, speed it up or slow it down.

Here’s an example of BadgerLoop’s Halbach arrays on a wheel. The configuration of magnets amplifies the magnetic field on one side, and negate it on the other side of the array. Passing this array over the aluminum sub track creates eddy currents, which produces the pod’s levitation.
Obviously, stability is important with a $150 million test track located next to the company’s headquarters. Most of SpaceX competition specifications for a test run involve many safety hurdles to actually get on the track in August.
According to Badgerloop, these pods will reach speeds of up to 200+ mph in a matter of 15 seconds with a run lasting approximately 43 seconds. That’s why BadgerLoop’s pod will have more than 140 sensors on board for real-time safety data and avoid overheating motors and other components.
Teslarati: Can you provide an overview of your pod controls and sensors?
Eric Amikam, Electrical Team Lead: Our pod will have 114 sensors. These include proximity sensors for between the pod and the rail, acceleration and gyroscopic data. We’re also taking in almost 50 different temperature points that create a full, live thermal heat map of our pod.
Teslarati: Why so much thermal sensing?
Eric Amikam: We’re in a vacuum and don’t have the benefit of convective heating like you normally do, so we have to make sure that everything is very thermally regulated. We have a variety of thermistors placed all throughout the pod and it goes to one central location. We can look at our dashboards in the middle of a run.
If one of our motors is getting dangerously hot and we don’t want to break that motor, we can just shut it off remotely.
Eric Amikam: In a couple months here, we will have a full simulation from dynamic model via CANalyzer from Vector — Tesla Motors uses the using the same software. The simulation allows us to infer “over the course of these 42 seconds, here’s what all of the sensors should see.” Then, we’ll fake all that data in our CAN bus, at the hardware level, and see how the system reacts. From there, and we can fine tune it, debug, test out our fault codes and start up sequences.
Sort of a Big Deal (Not Ron Burgundy)
Of course, meeting the International Man of Action, Elon Musk, was a bonus for Co-President Sjostrom and Tieler Callazo during the Design competition at Texas A&M.
“The lead SpaceX Hyperloop engineer appears on stage and says there’s been a recent hashtag on Twitter about where’s Elon. And we’d like to answer that question,” says Sjostrom.
Then, Elon Musk walks out.
The top four teams’ presidents were able to meet with Elon Musk one-on-one and discuss their pod designs. “We were waiting for Musk to finish his conversation and all the other team presidents were just repeating, ‘We get to meet Elon Musk, this is awesome.’”
Sjostrom adds “Musk thought it was pretty impressive that the top four teams were doing magnetic levitation and the first Hyperloop would probably be a wheeled vehicle, just like a proof of concept.
BadgerLoop is building the aluminum pod as the semester winds down and hopes to start integrating the different sub-systems and apply the carbon fiber skin in May. The team is utilizing workplace Slack software to help organize and oversee 40 members on the electrical team, for example. BadgerLoop will have to rely on remote collaboration as some team members graduate in May.
“Regular students go to bed and we keep working,” says Van Veen. “The only issue is when do we sleep. That’s probably our biggest challenge to be honest.”
Looks like Musk is preparing the students for careers at Tesla Motors, SpaceX or Hyperloop.
* All the Hyperloop college teams are looking for funding as this is a capital intensive project. You can donate to BadgerLoop by visiting this page.
Lifestyle
Tesla Cybertruck takes a bump from epic failing Dodge Charger
The Cybertruck seemed unharmed by the charging Charger.

There comes a time in a driver’s life when one is faced with one’s limitations. For the driver of a Dodge Charger, this time came when he lost control and crashed into a Tesla Cybertruck–an absolute epic fail.
A video of the rather unfortunate incident was shared on the r/TeslaLounge subreddit.
Charging Charger Fails
As could be seen in the video, which was posted on the subreddit by Model Y owner u/Hammer_of_something, a group of teens in a Dodge Charger decided to do some burnouts at a Tesla Supercharger. Unfortunately, the driver of the Charger failed in his burnout or donut attempt, resulting in the mopar sedan going over a curb and bumping a charging Cybertruck.
Ironically, the Dodge Charger seemed to have been parked at a Supercharger stall before its driver decided to perform the failed stunt. This suggests that the vehicle was likely ICE-ing a charging stall before it had its epic fail moment. Amusingly enough, the subreddit member noted that the Cybertruck did not seem like it took any damage at all despite its bump. The Charger, however, seemed like it ran into some trouble after crashing into the truck.
Alleged Aftermath
As per the the r/TeslaLounge subreddit member, the Cybertruck owner came rushing out to his vehicle after the Dodge Charger crashed into it. The Model Y owner then sent over the full video of the incident, which clearly showed the Charger attempting a burnout, failing, and bumping into the Cybertruck. The Cybertruck owner likely appreciated the video, in part because it showed the driver of the Dodge Charger absolutely freaking out after the incident.
The Cybertruck is not an impregnable vehicle, but it can take bumps pretty well thanks to its thick stainless steel body. Based on this video, it appears that the Cybertruck can even take bumps from a charging Charger, all while chilling and charging at a Supercharger. As for the teens in the Dodge, they likely had to provide a long explanation to authorities after the incident, since the cops were called to the location.
Lifestyle
Anti-Elon Musk group crushes Tesla Model 3 with Sherman tank–with unexpected results
Ironically enough, the group’s video ended up highlighting something very positive for Tesla.

Anti-Elon Musk protesters and critics tend to show their disdain for the CEO in various ways, but a recent video from political action group Led By Donkeys definitely takes the cake when it comes to creativity.
Ironially enough, the group’s video also ended up highlighting something very positive for Tesla.
Tank vs. Tesla
In its video, Led By Donkeys featured Ken Turner, a 98-year-old veteran who served in the British army during World War II. The veteran stated that Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, is “using his immense power to support the far-right in Europe, and his money comes from Tesla cars.”
He also noted that he had a message for the Tesla CEO: “We’ve crushed fascism before and we’ll crush it again.” To emphasize his point, the veteran proceeded to drive a Sherman tank over a blue Tesla Model 3 sedan, which, of course, had a plate that read “Fascism.”
The heavy tank crushed the Model 3’s glass roof and windows, much to the delight of Led By Donkeys’ commenters on its official YouTube channel. But at the end of it all, the aftermath of the anti-Elon Musk demonstration ended up showcasing something positive for the electric vehicle maker.
Tesla Model 3 Tanks the Tank?
As could be seen from the wreckage of the Tesla Model 3 after its Sherman encounter, only the glass roof and windows of the all-electric sedan were crushed. Looking at the wreckage of the Model 3, it seemed like its doors could still be opened, and everything on its lower section looked intact.
Considering that a standard M4 Sherman weighs about 66,800 to 84,000 pounds, the Model 3 actually weathered the tank’s assault really well. Granted, the vehicle’s suspension height before the political action group’s demonstration suggests that the Model 3’s high voltage battery had been removed beforehand. But even if it hadn’t been taken off, it seemed like the vehicle’s battery would have survived the heavy ordeal without much incident.
This was highlighted in comments from users on social media platform X, many of whom noted that a person in the Model 3 could very well have survived the ordeal with the Sherman. And that, ultimately, just speaks to the safety of Tesla’s vehicles. There is a reason why Teslas consistently rank among the safest cars on the road, after all.
Lifestyle
Tesla Model 3 driver is using FSD to travel to Mt. Everest Base Camp
The ambitious, nearly 4,000-kilometer (2,485-mile) Tesla FSD journey is being livestreamed on Chinese social media.

Count on Tesla drivers in China to push Full Self Driving (FSD) as far as it could go. As could be seen in videos posted on Chinese social media, a brave Model 3 owner is currently going on an epic journey from Henan Province to the base camp of Mt. Everest on FSD.
Recent posts from the Model 3 driver suggest that the ambitious destination may be within reach.
Epic FSD Journey
As noted by Tesla owner-enthusiast Aaron Li, the journey from Henan Province to the base camp of Mt. Everest spans almost 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles). The journey itself is epic, with stunning vistas and roads that require some drivers to bring oxygen canisters with them. The fact that it is being done using FSD makes it extra impressive.
Based on the videos that have been recently shared, the Model 3 running FSD seems to be nearing the Everest Base Camp. There seems to be a good chance that the Tesla Model 3 may reach its destination this Friday.
Previous Everest Trips
This is not the first time that a Tesla has driven to Mt. Everest’s base camp. That would be a Model 3 that was driven in September 2020. That vehicle, which went on a long 5,500 km (3,400-mile) journey, was manually driven to its destination.
In April 2021, Tesla China announced that it has completed the buildout of 11 Supercharger stations in the picturesque route from Chengdu to Tingri. This route would allow drivers to reach the base camp of Mt. Everest. Sure enough, in July 2022, Tesla China shared a video of two Teslas—a Model X and Model Y—reaching the Everest base camp without any issues. Numerous other Tesla drivers have since taken on the long, picturesque journey.
Check out this Tesla Model Y’s journey to the Mt. Everest base camp in the video below.
-
News2 weeks ago
Tesla Cybertruck Range Extender gets canceled
-
Elon Musk6 days ago
Tesla seems to have fixed one of Full Self-Driving’s most annoying features
-
Lifestyle2 weeks ago
Anti-Elon Musk group crushes Tesla Model 3 with Sherman tank–with unexpected results
-
News2 weeks ago
Starlink to launch on United Airlines planes by May 15
-
News2 weeks ago
Tesla Semi gets new adoptee in latest sighting
-
News2 weeks ago
Tesla launches its most inexpensive trim of new Model Y
-
News2 weeks ago
US’ base Tesla Model Y has an edge vs Shanghai and Berlin’s entry-level Model Ys
-
News2 weeks ago
Tesla Cybertruck owners get amazing year-long freebie