( CNN ) -- Elon Musk wants to revolutionize transportation . Again . The serial entrepreneur envisions a future where mag-lev trains in enormous pneumatic tubes whisk us from Los Angeles to New York in 45 minutes . Need to be in Beijing tomorrow ? No problem . It 's a two-hour ride away . As crazy as it sounds , Musk is merely updating an idea that 's been around since the early 1900s , and at least one company is working on a functional prototype . But according to Wired sources , his involvement wo n't be nearly as hands-on as Musk 's other endeavors at Tesla Motors and SpaceX . The engineering behind the Hyperloop is similar to the old-school pneumatic tube systems used by banks to suck your deposit to the teller at the drive-through . But naturally , it 's more complicated than that . A massive vacuum tube — mounted either above ground or even under water — would be combined with a magnetic levitation system used on conventional bullet trains . That means no friction , no wind resistance , no chance of collisions , and insanely high speeds . Musk described the Hyperloop as `` a cross between a Concorde , a railgun and an air hockey table , '' at AllThingsD 's D11 conference earlier this year . And in an interview with PandoDaily , Musk said the Hyperloop could form a fifth tent pole of modern transportation , joining cars , planes , trains , and boats , adding that because of its low energy usage and ability to get juice from solar power , it could generate more power than it would consume . Elon Musk : Our future in space depends on reusable rockets . But up until now , he has n't elaborated on his involvement . Musk 's interest in the idea was sparked after researching California 's new high-speed rail project and realizing that it will be the slowest and — at $ 70 billion — the most expensive system on the planet . To his mind , there 's a better solution . The Hyperloop is it . And one firm unaffiliated with Musk is in the early stages of development . ET3 , a company based in Longmont , Colorado , is working on a Evacuated Tube Transport ( ETT ) system , which it describes as `` space travel on Earth . '' It uses two tubes — one for each direction — with 400-pound , passenger car-sized capsules that could house six people , each accelerated by linear electric motors . According to ET3 , state trips would average speeds of around 370 mph , while international trips would hit that insane 4,000 mph mark . The company , which calls itself an `` open consortium , '' claims that it 's working with partners in China and has sold nearly 100 licenses for the technology . But ET3′s claims pose more questions than answers , particularly when considering you can buy your own license for the bargain basement price of $ 100 . But the idea for a vacuum-sealed high-speed transit system is n't anything new . The `` vactrain '' concept was floated in the early 1910s and a paper written by physicist R.M . Salter and published by the Rand Corporation in 1972 titled the `` Very High Speed Transit System , '' or VHST , describes something very similar to what ET3 is developing . But where Musk fits in remains a question . Sources close to the Tesla co-founder and CEO say he believes ET3 is on the right track , but is missing some key components , and that Musk has his hands full with Tesla and SpaceX , and would rather have some involvement in the development , with another entity taking the helm . That lines up with a few responses Musk made on Twitter when asked about patenting the technology . `` I really hate patents unless critical to company survival , '' Musk tweeted . `` Will publish Hyperloop as open source . '' When asked about partners , Musk said he 's `` happy to work with the right partners . Must truly share philosophical goal of breakthrough tech done fast & w/o wasting money on BS . '' We 'll have to wait until August 12th to find out more . Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $ 1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT ! Click here ! Copyright 2011 Wired.com .
Musk wants to revolutionize transportation with high-speed trains in enormous pneumatic tubes . Such trains could theoretically whisk people from New York to Colorado in two-hour . A Colorado firm is in the early stages of development of such a system . Musk is the serial entrepreneur behind Concorde , the electric car company , and Space X .