In this paper, we focus on the assessment of the optimal design of the propulsion system of an energyautonomous Hyperloop capsule supplied by batteries. The novelty in this paper is to propose a sizing method for this specific transportation system, and answer the question whether the energy and power requirements of the Hyperloop propulsion are compatible with available power-electronics and battery technologies. By knowing the weight of a predetermined payload to be transported along predetermined trajectories, the proposed sizing method minimizes the total number of battery cells that supply the capsule's propulsion and maximizes its performance. The constraints embed numerically-tractable and discrete-time models of the main components of the electrical propulsion system and the battery, along with a kinematic model of the capsule. Although the optimization problem is non-convex due to the adopted discrete-time formulation, its constraints exhibit a good numerical tractability. After having determined multiple solutions, we identify the dominant ones by using specific metrics. These solutions identify propulsion systems characterized by energy reservoirs with an energy capacity in the order of 0.5 MWh and a power rating below 6.25 MW, and enable an energy consumption between 10-50 Wh/km/passenger depending on the length of the trajectory.

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The thorough development of the hyperloop system does require the availability of reduced-scale models. They can be used for the fast prototyping of various components, as well as for studying critical phenomena that takes place in this peculiar transportation system without the need to develop complex and expensive full-scale setups. In this respect, in this paper, we present a process for the optimal assessment of the scaling factor; it is to be used for the development of a reduced-scale hyperloop model, starting from the knowledge of the technical characteristics of its full-scale counterpart.The objective of the proposed process is the minimisation of the difference between the normalized power profiles associated with the reduced-scale and full-scale models of a hyperloop capsule traveling along a pre-defined trajectory with a predetermined speed profile. By considering the hyperloop fullscale model as a reference, we propose a set of equations that link the above-mentioned metric with the constraints dictated by the kinematics of the hyperloop capsule, the capsule's battery-energy storage and propulsion systems, the capsule's aerodynamics, and the operating environmental conditions. We then derive a closed-form expression for the assessment of the optimal scaling factor and eventually use it to study the scaleddown version of an application example of a realistic hyperloop system.