Yahoo Autos Hyperloop Ultra-High Speed Transport Is Hyper Dead
NORTH LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 11: People look at a demostration test sled after the first test of the propulsion system at the Hyperloop One Test and Safety site on May 11, 2016 in North Las Vegas, Nevada. The company plans to create a fully operational hyperloop system by 2020.
Hyperloop One is the company born to bring Elon Musk’s much hyped contention that it would be possible to engineer underground or above-ground virtually airless tubes to facilitate ultra-high speed mass transit to life. That dream now appears dead as the company has laid off most of its employees and is trying to sell its remaining assets.
As with many startups, Hyperloop One had a strong start with over $450 million in initial investment, but as the reality of building an entirely new form of transportation requiring uncharted logistics set in, the company destabilized. It was bought by Richard Branson’s Virgin in 2017, and then was surrounded in scandal up-to its recent demise. Bloomberg reports,
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The Hyperloop ran a single test with passengers on its Nevada test track with dismal results. The pod, which was supposed to be operating at speeds in excess of 700 mph, achieved a top speed of 100 mph. Womp womp.
A Tesla Inc. electric vehicle drives through the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 3, 2022.
Elon did manage to build a kind of “Hyperloop” that remains alive and well, but is nothing like what was initially promised. Elon’s Hyperloop exists as a single-lane tunnel system that runs beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center that acts as an underground route for standard Tesla vehicles to ferry folks around the 4.6 million square-foot convention center. I have ridden the Tesla Hyperloop several times over my three years attending The SEMA Show and it is incredibly convenient, if a bit extra. This system was intended to expand beyond the convention center, though, which it has yet to do.
In other news, Japan’s bullet train continues to operate flawlessly and ferry nearly a million passengers around the country each day with virtually infallible punctuality and efficiency.
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