Hyperloop One, the futurist transportation company (in case you forgot) that promised to whisk passengers and cargo in vacuum-sealed tubes at jet speeds from city to city, is officially over – but this time, it’s for real. According to Bloomberg, the much-hyped, long-beleaguered company will officially close its doors on December 31.
Expand Expanding Close
Virgin Hyperloop One, previously known as Hyperloop One until a large investment from Virgin in October, made several announcements this week.
The company announced that it achieved a new record speed in its test loop in Nevada, raised another $50 million, and made Richard Branson its new Chairman.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Hyperloop One has been rebranded as ‘Virgin Hyperloop One’ following an unspecified investment by the company.
Virgin Group founder Richard Branson said that the investment was a good fit for the company …
After announcing “the successful completion of the world’s first full systems Hyperloop test in a vacuum environment” last month, Hyperloop One is now releasing the details of a new test with their actual pod in their vacuum test tube.
They achieved a new top speed of 192 mph (310 km an hour).
Expand
Expanding
Close
Hyperloop One, one of the main companies developing the new mode of transportation envisioned by Elon Musk, announced today “the successful completion of the world’s first full systems Hyperloop test in a vacuum environment.”
Surprisingly, this test was privately conducted on May 12, 2017 at the company’s test track in Nevada, known as the ‘DevLoop’, and they are only now disclosing it.
Expand
Expanding
Close
After unveiling 11 potential routes for the high-speed transportation system in the US, Hyperloop One is now announcing 9 new potential European routes.
While it doesn’t mean that any of them will actually be built, those are currently the most likely routes to be among the first regions to get a new high-speed transportation system.
Expand
Expanding
Close
While Hyperloop One has been making great technical progress in the US on the high-speed transportation system first envisioned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the interest for actual deployment of the system has been way greater outside of the states, like in Dubai for example.
But today, the company attempts to change that by revealing the US routes with the most potential.
Expand
Expanding
Close
In another “it’s actually happening” moment with the hyperloop today, we get an updated look at what is probably the most advanced hyperloop system developed so far. We saw SpaceX’s test track earlier this year, but the mile-long tube that the rocket company built is only meant for testing propulsion systems and it isn’t full-scale.
Hyperloop One’s track in Nevada is the first that could support a full-scale pod to carry people and cargo. The company released the first pictures of their progress since installing the first tube last November.
Expand
Expanding
Close
While Hyperloop One, the main startup developing hyperloop technologies and deployment projects, is moving full steam ahead with its test track in Nevada and several full-scale projects around the world, another startup called Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc. (HTT) is also trying to carve itself a place in the space.
Hyperloop One has been taken more seriously than HTT since it has been backed with more money from serious investors, but today the company announced that Hyperloop One is not the only hyperloop company capable of raising capital and confirmed a $30 million round of investment and a $100 million total investment to date, but that’s based on some unconventional math to say the least.
Expand
Expanding
Close
In another “it’s really happening” moment with the hyperloop following the announcement of a new system in development in Dubai, Hyperloop One announced today that it installed the very first tube of its “DevLoop” in North Las Vegas.
Expand
Expanding
Close
As we reported earlier this week, Hyperloop One signed a deal with the Transport Authority in Dubai (RTA) to bring a hyperloop network between Dubai and Abu Dhabi and other Emirates. They expect to be able to travel the ~90 miles (150 km) separating the two cities in just 12 minutes.
The company has been working on designs for the terminals at each end of the hyperloop system and they have released some fairly advanced renders.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Hyperloop One, the main company developing the hyperloop system envisioned by Elon Musk, had two big announcements today. While they are still working on their full-scale prototype track in North Las Vegas, the company unveiled the concept for their entire system – revealing that they also plan to address the last mile and not just the long distance transport.
With the unveiling of the new system, the company announced a deal with the Transport Authority in Dubai (RTA) to bring a hyperloop network between Dubai and Abu Dhabi and other Emirates.
Expand
Expanding
Close
There’s a lot to be excited about in the Hyperloop space for the next few months, which could be decisive in proving that this new mode of transport can work or whether it’s just “pie in the sky” as some skeptics are claiming.
First, we have the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition that should be pretty fun to watch, but in term of overall full-scale infrastructure, Hyperloop One’s project is the one to watch and should come not long after SpaceX’s event in January.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Everything points toward Dubai, especially its port, being the first place to get a full-scale commercial hyperloop system. It was announced in August that DP World, one of the world’s biggest marine port operator, including of Dubai’s Port of Jebel Ali, inked a deal with Hyperloop One, the main company developing a hyperloop system, and DP World, in order to evaluate and develop a potential ‘Hyperloop cargo offloader’ at the port.
Now today DP World announced that it is investing $50 million in Hyperloop One to help the company complete its full-scale test track in Nevada and bring the concept one step closer to the first commercial system.
Update: Hyperloop One reached out to note that DP World is leading the $50 million, but they are other investors too though without naming them.
Expand
Expanding
Close
A little over a month ago, we reported on tubes for SpaceX’s Hyperloop test track starting to show up at the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne. Now they already have the entire 1-mile track up along the road ahead of the pod competition.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Dubai is continuously showing interest in hyperloop systems and today, they interest manifested by inking a deal between Hyperloop One, the main company developing a hyperloop system, and DP World, one of the world’s biggest marine port operator, in order to evaluate and develop a potential ‘Hyperloop cargo offloader’ at Dubai’s Port of Jebel Ali.
Expand
Expanding
Close
If you follow Electrek, you know we are big fans of the Hyperloop concept and we are following closely the companies working to make it a reality. Hyperloop One, the company arguably making the most progress with already a full-scale test track under construction (pictured above) and several deals to develop routes, is now under scrutiny after one of the co-founders left and is now suing the company along with other executives.
Expand
Expanding
Close
A few weeks ago, we reported on Hyperloop One, one of the main companies developing hyperloop technologies, signing a memorandum of understanding with Moscow-based Summa Group, a Russian port, telecom and oil business headed by mysterious billionaire Ziyavudin Magomedov, to explore developing a Hyperloop project in the country.
While the deal was to determine if a project would theoretically be possible, now it seems that a pilot project is planning for an actual system as soon as December, according to Maxim Liksutov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow in charge of transport.
Expand
Expanding
Close
The picture above is an actual section of the first full-scale hyperloop test track currently taking shape in North Las Vegas. The 3 km full-scale and full speed enclosed prototype with a low-pressure environment will be used as a test track for Hyperloop One’s technology.
The company announced that it raised over $100 million – enough to build the track – and it hopes to bring the first commercial version to market by 2021. While generally regarded as the frontrunner to build the first hyperloop, Hyperloop One is not the only company developing the new mode of transportation envisioned by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Hyperloop One, one of the main companies working on full-scale hyperloop systems, shared images of its latest creation: the ‘tube deformer’. In order for a hyperloop transport system to become a reality, it will be extremely important to bring the cost of the track (or tube) down.
Making the assembly process as simple as possible will go a long way in reducing the cost per mile and that’s exactly what the ‘tube deformer’ does.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Today, Hyperloop One, following yesterday’s name change from Hyperloop Tech and the announcement of the ‘Hyperloop One Global Challenge’, unveiled its propulsion system for its own hyperloop technology at its open air test track in North Las Vegas.
The company went one step further and offered a demonstration of its full-scale system prototype, which was built in less than 6 months according to CEO Rob Lloyd.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Hyperloop Tech, one of the main companies developing hyperloop technologies and now renamed “Hyperloop One”, launched today the ‘Hyperloop One Global Challenge’ to find the locations, develop and construct the world’s first hyperloop networks.
The challenge invites teams from anywhere on Earth to put forward a comprehensive package for commercial, transport, economic, and policy case for their cities, regions, or countries to be considered to host the first hyperloop networks.
The goal is to get people, all levels of government and investors involved in the project to facilitate the implementation of the new mode of transport, while Hyperloop One would take care of the technical side of the hyperloop system.
Expand
Expanding
Close