Hyperloop One, formerly Virgin Hyperloop, is reportedly selling its assets, laying off its remaining employees, and preparing to shut down by the end of 2023. Hyperloop One aimed to transport passengers and cargo at airline speeds through nearly airless tubes. Hyperloop transportation technology is considered by some to be the transportation system of the future.
The dream is over, Hyperloop One is closing
Hyperloop One is selling all its assets, closing its offices, and laying off employees. It will officially close at the end of the year, at which point all its intellectual property will pass to its majority shareholder, the major Dubai port operator DP World.
The company has raised about $450 million in venture capital funds and other investments since its founding in 2014. There are very few startups in the “hyperloop” transportation technology space, and the shuttering of one of the largest also marks the end of Elon Musk’s dream. Hyperloop One (and other similar companies) was founded in 2014 after the publication of Elon Musk’s article about his vision for hyperloop transportation technologies.
The end of Musk’s dream
Musk theorized that aerodynamic aluminum capsules filled with passengers or cargo could reach speeds of 1,200 km per hour through a nearly airless tube. Rising on pylons or buried underground, these tubes would be built within or between cities. Musk calls it the “fifth mode of transportation” and argues that it could help change the way we live, work, trade, and travel.
The most remarkable scenario he proposed was a trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just 30 minutes. The idea captured the imagination of engineers and investors around the world, at least initially.
On the Hyperloop One side, on the other hand, the wind was very strong from the very beginning. The company changed its name several times and experienced various troubles. Founded as Hyperloop Technologies, the company was later renamed Hyperloop One and became Virgin Hyperloop One after being acquired by Richard Branson’s company. Afterwards, the company focused only on “cargo and freight” transportation, and then the Virgin brand was withdrawn from the company name.
Significant achievements were made
The company has taken several important steps, including building a test track in Nevada to test the safety and feasibility of the technology. In 2020, it conducted its first – and only – test with human passengers. In this demonstration, a speed of just 160 km/h was achieved, 8 times lower than promised.
Critics say that while the hyperloop is technically possible, it is still only a fantasy. It is called a “utopian vision” that is financially impossible to realize. No full-scale hyperloop exists anywhere in the world today. Musk’s test tunnel in California was also removed last year and replaced with a parking lot.
Musk is still working on full-scale hyperloop systems with The Boring Company, but there are no concrete steps yet. Although The Boring Company is currently digging underground passages in Las Vegas, it is known that these passages are for vehicles such as Tesla. So at least the near future for hyperloop transportation systems is the same as today.
