Executives from a company testing Hyperloop, the futuristic transportation platform that propels pods down pneumatic tubes, in North Las Vegas said they want to reimagine the way people move. Ahead of a demonstration of its technology on Wednesday, company officials outlined their vision at a presentation in Las Vegas.
Formerly known as Hyperloop Technologies, the company announced $80 million in recent funding and unveiled its new name: Hyperloop One. Executives for the company announced a list of international partners, from Berlin to Zurich to Paris with expertise in transportation engineering, architecture and construction.
“It’s real,” said CEO Rob Lloyd. “It’s happening now.”
On Wednesday the company will showcase its technology in North Las Vegas. Its design builds on a white paper floated by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in 2013. Musk has likened the Hyperloop, because it shoots levitating pods through an enclosed tube, to a mix among a Concorde jet, a rail gun and an air hockey table.
The near-frictionless, high-speed pods are seen as an efficient and safe alternative for transporting people and goods. The company, testing at Apex Industrial Park in North Las Vegas, recently received Nevada tax incentives worth $9.2 million to build a 2-mile test track, an expansion of its current project.
That larger track will be vital for the company, which said today that it plans to conduct a full-scale test by the end of the year.
Wednesday's test will take place on a smaller open-air track.
Hyperloop One executives do not shy away from the Silicon Valley belief that technology can change the world. Co-founder Shervin Pishevar said the system has the potential to break physical barriers, giving all people a way to travel around the world.
In a presentation, Lloyd predicted Hyperloop would have the same impact as the Internet, noting that many periods of economic transformation have coincided with advances in transportation. He cited the railroad helping to spur the Industrial Revolution.
“What we have now isn’t working,” said Lloyd, a former Cisco president.
During the presentation, the company showed illustrations of what it envisions with its transportation platform. It showed Hyperloop systems cutting through mountains, running under ocean water and encircling cities to better move passengers and cargo.
Brogan BamBrogan, a company co-founder, said one advantage to the system is immediacy since Hyperloop One travels about 700 miles-per-hour. He said it is also efficient, safe and carbon-free, contrasting it with rail and flight. Because pods would run in a closed environment, there would be no turbulence and few operating errors.
Gov. Brian Sandoval, who had praised the company’s decision to do testing in the state at an economic development meeting in March, applauded the company’s progress Tuesday as it prepares to test.
“We believe that Hyperloop One will develop the next mode of transportation while also providing a significant revenue stream and job opportunities for Nevadans,” he said in a statement. “This company will be an anchor at the Apex Industrial Park and I look forward to a successful partnership for years to come.”
The company is expected to invest more than $121 million in its Nevada testing projects and bring about 100 jobs to the region.
Hperloop One is not without competition to build Musk’s vision. It is one of two startups competing to build a Hyperloop system. Musk is also encouraging development among teams of college students.
On Monday, the other firm, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, announced a license for magnetic levitation technology first developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Though some have doubted the company’s ability to bring a product to market soon, Hyperloop One is backed by a team The Wall Street Journal once described the group as “a Silicon Valley fantasy-football team” because of its technical and startup expertise.