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  • Hyperloop Inc: End of the Line

  • General discussion of passenger rail systems not otherwise covered in the specific forums in this category, including high speed rail.
General discussion of passenger rail systems not otherwise covered in the specific forums in this category, including high speed rail.

Moderators: mtuandrew, gprimr1

 #1635344  by John_Perkowski
 
Hyperloop One Inc has closed its doors, laid off most of its staff, and is selling remaining assets.

Link here: Hyperloop One to Shut Down After Failing to Reinvent Transit. The company is selling assets, laying off remaining employees.

For this reason the Baltimore to DC Maglev thread is now locked.
 #1635347  by STrRedWolf
 
John_Perkowski wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 3:26 pm Hyperloop One Inc has closed its doors, laid off most of its staff, and is selling remaining assets.

Link here: Hyperloop One to Shut Down After Failing to Reinvent Transit. The company is selling assets, laying off remaining employees.

For this reason the Baltimore to DC Maglev thread is now locked.
The Verge covered it as well: https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/21/240 ... -elon-musk

Although... I'm not sure what the defunct Musk company has with the Baltimore/DC Maglev project... Maybe the Boring Company is a future contractor? But that's a stretch.
 #1635358  by lpetrich
 
Titled link: The hyperloop is dead for real this time - The Verge
Its major intellectual-property holder: DP World | Logistics | Management | Global International Trade - "A leading provider of smart logistics solutions, enabling the flow of trade across the globe."
Whoever buys the test track in the Nevada desert will have one hell of a Slip ‘N Slide if they want it.

Since its founding in 2014, the company raised around $450 million in venture capital funds and other investments. While there is still a small smattering of startups trying to build hyperloops, the demise of one of the biggest hyperloop companies signals the end of the dream that originated with Elon Musk’s so-called “alpha paper” in 2013.
From back in 2013, Elon Musk reveals plans for high-speed Hyperloop - The Verge
noting
Hyperloop | Tesla - August 12, 2013
How could it be that the home of Silicon Valley and JPL – doing incredible things like indexing all the world’s knowledge and putting rovers on Mars – would build a bullet train that is both one of the most expensive per mile and one of the slowest in the world?
One of the slowest in the world? Was he serious? 350 km/h is the worldwide top speed, achieved on only a few lines. 300 km/h is a much more common top speed.

Hyperloop Alpha - hyperloop_alpha3 - a more detailed document. It seems grossly optimistic, like making zero mention of possible NIMBY objections.
 #1635497  by dowlingm
 
Hilarious to watch the Twitter stans claim Elmo had nothing to do with hyperloop and thus this failure is no blow to his credibility.
 #1635512  by eolesen
 
Musk had no real attachment other than crafting a hypothesis years ago.... I'm not understanding why so many people want to try and blame him or Richard Branson for it's failure.

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 #1635516  by STrRedWolf
 
eolesen wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2023 10:06 pm Musk had no real attachment other than crafting a hypothesis years ago.... I'm not understanding why so many people want to try and blame him or Richard Branson for it's failure.

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Elon made the idea and promoted the hell out of it, so he basically owns the idea.

Richard Branson is (at least) the figurehead of Virgin Group, who bought Hyperloop One.

Now we got to see how HyperloopTT works out. So far, it's being bought out by an investment firm.
 #1635543  by eolesen
 
And yet 11 years ago, he said:
Musk had announced earlier that he has no immediate plans to build the device, citing commitments to his Tesla and SpaceX businesses, but on today's call said he was considering building a prototype model. "What happens is, you start building a prototype and you encounter a whole series of ideas you have to work around. It happened with SpaceX and it happened with Tesla."
For every good invention and idea, there are dozens if not hundreds which fail at some point.

I will continue to question why some feel it's OK to go after visionaries/entrepreneurs based primarily on public stances they've taken that you disagree with.

If I really cared about this, I'd go back five years and see what people were saying about Elon Musk on this forum.

Somehow I suspect the praise would be rather high based on the general enthusiasm for Tesla from climate change advocates, which run deep here.

That's why I find it curious that he's Suddenly Satan now that he's no longer adhering to the behavior and social/political alignment that tech advocates espouse...