Goodbye to the futuristic train? Elon Musk dismantles his Hyperloop and turns it into a SpaceX parking lot

For years, Elon Musk spoke of hyper loop as the means of transportation that would forever change the way we move. It consisted of a system of magnetically driven capsules at very high speeds through a system of tubes. A revolutionary concept, without a doubt, and it didn’t take long to capture the interest of other companies to make their own version. However, it seems that the future of this project seems not to be so bright anymore, at least in the eyes of the new owner of Twitter, who has decided dismantle its test track to install a parking lot for SpaceX employees.

As reported Bloomberg, the final destination of the approximately 1.6 kilometer long tunnel was decided a few months ago. Erik Wright, owner of Precision Construction Services, the company chosen in 2016 to build it, told the aforementioned media that he was informed about its dismantling through a text message.

The Hyperloop test track was located in Hawthorne, California, near the SpaceX offices, parallel to Jack Northrop Avenue. Since its inauguration, the tunnel was not only used as a method to graphically explain what was the vision behind Elon Musk’s futuristic transportation, but also to host student competitions. In 2018, for example, a German team managed to get a capsule to travel at more than 460 kilometers per hour in the distance of less than 2 kilometers.

Does the demolition of the Hyperloop test track mean that Elon Musk has thrown the project overboard? Not necessarily. But he does show that the initiative today does not occupy a central place in their plans, nor in those of SpaceX. It is possible that in the future, as technological possibilities allow, the idea will gain traction again. But today that doesn’t seem to be the case.

In fact, the employer himself referred to the matter earlier this year. Last April, he said on Twitter: “Over the next few years, Boring Co. will attempt to build a working Hyperloop. From the point of view of known physics, this is the fastest possible way to get from one city center to another.” for distances less than 3,200 kilometers”.

The future of Hyperloop, an unknown, and not only for SpaceX

It is The Boring CompanyPrecisely, the other point that suggests that the Hyperloop is no longer a central plan in the mind of Elon Musk. That said company focuses on creating tunnels so that cars can travel underground, under the premise of reducing car congestion on the street, speaks clearly that we are possibly a few years —decades, perhaps— from that the idea of ​​high-speed magnetic capsules is viable.

What are the main challenges of high-speed magnetic capsules? That certain crucial elements, such as sensors, batteries, and electronics to manage powerThey haven’t evolved enough.

It will also be interesting to see how SpaceX’s decommissioning of the test track is viewed by other companies experimenting with the Hyperloop today. Today, one of the most advanced is Virginwhat do you expect begin to use commercially the Hyperloop One in 2027. Richard Branson’s firm initially wants to use it in Saudi Arabia and India, although to achieve this it will have to achieve transcendental advances in the next five years.

In November 2020, Virgin successfully completed the first passenger test on Hyperloop One. However, it was with a two-passenger capsule and on a stretch of only 500 meters. Awesome? Yes. But still far from the 28 travelers that the company promises to take on journeys of hundreds to thousands of kilometers.

In Spain there is also a very interesting Hyperloop project. It is about the Valencians of zeleros, which have managed to establish themselves as the most attractive option to promote this concept of transport in Europe. With good financing and expectations of international expansion, this is a project that has gained a lot of attention and seems to have great potential. It will be necessary to see if it can win a bigger place in the “futuristic trains” market, or if the possible disinterest of Elon Musk and SpaceX ends up cooling the other proposals around this idea.