Elon Musk continually appears in the media, either for creating a new company or making controversial comments on social networks. Despite being the richest man in the world, he does not appear so when compared to others, as Musk does not hesitate to make somewhat absurd decisions or confront others on social media. Years ago, Elon Musk promised us a high-speed transportation system called Hyperloop One, but now it has been announced that the company is closing, and the project will disappear, never having been launched.
Hyperloop may not be very familiar to you, as the futuristic transportation company and project began in 2013 and 2014 when it was founded and its objectives were revealed. It wasn’t until a few years later that Elon Musk began to create greater expectations, showing Hyperloop prototypes and how this system would revolutionize transport worldwide. These trains would travel through specially designed tunnels to reach incredibly high speeds. Musk confirmed that they could reach speeds of up to 1,200 km/h, making trips between Europe and China much faster.
Hyperloop One closes 10 years after the project was founded, without having created a single transportation system.
From 2017 to 2022, the company was known as Virgin Hyperloop One due to an investment from the Virgin Group. It was then announced that Bobadilla (Malaga) had been chosen as the development center for Hyperloop. At that time, it was indicated that the development center would be ready by 2020, and from there, the high-speed trains and tunnels could be built.
Despite high expectations and passenger tests carried out a few years ago, the company has now closed its doors. Hyperloop One announces its closure, laying off all its staff and selling its assets. According to Bloomberg, the company had financial problems for some time and never secured a contract to create the first Hyperloop.
Zeleros, the “Spanish Hyperloop,” laid off half of the staff and will focus on other projects.
Hyperloop One had a lot of promise, as Elon Musk envisioned replacing current transportation systems with it. Reaching 1,200 km/h is much faster than the average airplane, which travels around 800 km/h and can sometimes exceed 1,000 km/h. In fact, the speed that Musk aimed to achieve came dangerously close to the speed of sound, which is 1,234 kilometers per hour.
In the end, Hyperloop lasted ten years without ever being launched or introducing one of its transportation systems to the public. Unfortunately, we will never know what will become of this technology, at least from Musk, who is now more interested in AI. On the other hand, other companies emerged that could become rivals, such as Zeleros, referred to as the “Spanish Hyperloop.” Located in Valencia, Zeleros seemed to be on track to fulfill the high-speed transportation project but recently announced lay-offs of nearly half its workforce. Meanwhile, Hyperloop One will lay off all employees before the end of the year.
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