Elon Musk announced a new step for his Hyperloop concept, the ultra-high-speed shuttle system that could theoretically transport people from San Francisco to Los Angeles in about a half-hour.

Musk said on Thursday that he plans on building a five-mile Hyperloop test track so that companies and student teams can “test out their pods.” He says this test track will likely be built in Texas.

Though Musk introduced the Hyperloop idea, he handed it off to a crowdfunded team of about 100 engineers from JumpStartFund, who have all been testing the technical feasibility of the project. Cost analyses from JumpStartFund and Musk say $6 to $10 billion would be needed to produce a 400-mile Hyperloop.

Here's what the Hyperloop is supposed to look like, from Musk's original plan:

And here's the inside:

If you’re wondering why Musk is considering Texas for the Hyperloop test track, Musk said earlier this week that he is doing a lot of work in the state to get his electric-car company, Tesla Motors, to sell its cars directly to consumers. “Texas is a very important market for us,” Musk said.



Though JumpStartFund is working on the technical feasibility of the new concept, it's unclear whether anyone is working on the regulatory and land-use situation in California, which may in fact pose the bigger problem.



NOW WATCH: Wild Video Of A Man Jumping On A Frozen Trampoline In Frigid Cold Minnesota