As Elon Musk spends more time being a troll on his newly acquired social network, some projects are apparently falling by the wayside. SpaceX has reportedly demolished the Hyperloop test track near its offices in Hawthorne, California. In its place, the company has erected a parking lot, which seems like a fitting end for something Musk once hailed as the “fifth mode of transportation.” Now it’s just a place to park one of the other four.
The hyperloop concept was popularized in 2013 when Musk released the “Hyperloop Alpha” white paper, inviting companies to build on the idea. The gist is that you build a tunnel, depressurize it, and run pods through it at extremely high speed. Allegedly, this sci-fi mode of transportation could reach speeds as high as 760 miles per hour (1,223 kph). Musk founded The Boring Company to work on building hyperloop technology, but almost a decade later, there are no operational hyperloops, and the largest prototype (above) is now gone.
As news of the impending closure spread earlier this year, some of the engineers who took part in the construction got together to mourn the loss. Erik Wright, the owner of Precision Construction Services, noted that his firm’s work on the hyperloop track led to many more projects. “The Hyperloop is quite a badge of honor for us,” Wright told Bloomberg. The tunnel was about a mile long and 12 feet across (1.6 kilometers and 3.6 meters), consisting of steel, concrete, and aluminum. All these materials expand and contract at different rates, making it difficult to meet the required precision of 0.04 inches.
A version of Musk’s Hyperloop alpha from 2013.
The test track wasn’t getting a lot of use even before it was closed down. Since 2017, the track was used for student demonstrations of hyperloop technology. Musk says he still wants to build a hyperloop, but the Boring Company appears to be heading in other directions (including selling a cologne that smells like burnt hair). Musk’s tunnel-excavating firm has been working on a series of tunnels under Las Vegas, but these are not depressurized tubes for ultra-fast transport. Rather, they are just tunnels for Tesla’s electric vehicles to drive through.
It’s possible Musk is preparing to move more of his operations to Texas, which already hosts Tesla’s headquarters in Austin, as well as the SpaceX testing and development facility in Boca Chica. Musk, whose net worth is about $200 billion, has said he moved to Texas to save money on taxes. Maybe the dream of a hyperloop isn’t dead, but it’s definitely on the back burner.
Now read:
- Elon Musk May Want In on the Hyperloop Business After All
- The Boring Company Will Build High-Speed Transit for Chicago Airport
- Elon Musk Wants to Build a Hyperloop From New York City to DC
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