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Hyperloop Update: Elon Musk Will Start Developing It Himself
- gkoberger 13y agoSlightly misleading headline: he said he will "probably" build a prototype, but still has no interest day-to-day. He is interested in investing, however.
- ics 13y ago> Musk will build a demonstration prototype himself. “I think it might help if I built a demonstration article. I think I probably will do that, actually. I’ve sort of come around in my thinking on that part.” ...After which he reiterates that this is not his top priority, though if it was that it would take just one year by his estimates. I guess we'll all be looking forward to finding out where the prototype will be located (Texas?).
- pash 13y agoThe interesting bits are the details about Musk's intentions going forward: - Musk will build a demonstration prototype himself. “I think it might help if I built a demonstration article. I think I probably will do that, actually. I’ve sort of come around in my thinking on that part.” - For now, this is a low priority for Musk. “Maybe I would just do the beginning bit, create a subscale version that is operating and then hand it over to someone else. Ironing out the details at a subscale level is a tricky thing. I think I would probably end up doing that. It just won’t be immediate in the short term because I have to focus on Tesla and SpaceX execution.” - If it was his first priority, he could have it done in a year. “The demonstration project would not be anything that required some sort of big government approval process,” he said. - Musk will invest his own money into this project, even though he hopes others will help as well. “I always invest my own money in the companies that I create. I don’t believe in the whole thing of just using other people’s money. I don’t think that’s right. I’m not going to ask other people to invest in something if I’m not prepared to do so myself.” - But it’s okay if it doesn’t make him a lot of money. “I’m not trying to make a ton of money on this but I would like to see it come to fruition,” he said. “I don’t really care much one way or another if I have any economic benefit or another, but it would be cool to see an alternate form of transport.” It'a not clear whether Musk actually said he intends to build a proof of concept or whether the writer took his "probably" too far. If anyone finds a more complete transcript of the teleconference, please post it.
- moocowduckquack 13y agoAmazon should build some narrow ones.
- pixie_ 13y agoMaybe like a new 'physical internet' where it really is a series of tubes.
- mtgx 13y agoAnd it will probably be tapped by the NSA, too.
- cpeterso 13y agoThe London Post Office ran an underground mail rail with small trains from 1927 to 2003: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Post_Office_Railway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Post_Office_Railway Here are cool mail rail photos from some urban spelunkers: http://www.placehacking.co.uk/2011/04/24/security-breach-london-mail-rail/ http://www.placehacking.co.uk/2011/04/24/security-breach-lon...
- tehwalrus 13y agoI very much enjoyed reading that placehacking article, thank you! :)
- dlss 13y agoThis is actually genius. A nationwide tube system feels like it would beat the pants of of trucking. I'm not sure about narrower though -- maybe the "with car" design could be modified to have shipping containers placed on to the sleds?
- moocowduckquack 13y agoI was thinking about what would a cheap scale demo still be useful for. If you built one out of 2 foot plastic pipe, you might still be able to have a market for parcel delivery systems and therefore make your money back off the prototype investment before you make a bigger one. Linking some hospitals would be a good starting point maybe.
- prakster 13y agoA complementary opportunity for Richard Branson (Space / Air / Ground)
- lampooned 13y agoNothing he hasn't done before. Virgin Trains basically have a monopoly in the UK.
- opminion 13y agoMonopoly on what?
- adaml_623 13y agoThat's a ridiculous statement. Virgin have a contract to run the West Coast Intercity network that connects London with cities up the west side of the UK. They don't have the contract for the East Coast or the networks heading East or West from London including Eurostar which carries more people than airplanes from London to Paris.
- vidarh 13y ago
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- fnordfnordfnord 13y agoI love all of these renderings showing transparent tubes. The tubes probably aren't going to be transparent. I'm not even sure who would want to look outside at that speed (besides me), so close to the ground.
- NegativeK 13y agoThe images would be pretty boring if the tubes weren't transparent. I suppose they could cut holes in them in the image, but that's just like showing them as transparent.
- spatten 13y agoI'm not sure, but in section 4.1.2 of the PDF, it says: Beautiful landscape will be displayed in the cabin I took this to mean that there would be windows. I agree about not wanting to look outside, though. I've travelled on the shinkansen in Japan (which go ~ 1/3 of the speed that the hyperloop is planned at) and it was really hard to look out of the windows for any length of time.
- mh- 13y agoIt could also just mean there will be picturesque scenery mounted on the interior. (I'm not sure I'm joking)
- jonknee 13y agoEmphasis on displayed... It could be a screen.
- sargun 13y agoNope, no Windows. Screens. The documentation talks to the fact the tube is made of steel, and I'm guessing it's not transparent aluminum.
- nsdnsd 13y ago"...made of steel..." "...it's not transparent aluminum..." ‽
- prawn 13y agoIn the cavity between the two tubes and the solar panels, there might be space for a freight transport tube?
- jeffasinger 13y agoThere will also likely be additional capacity on the main tubes. I doubt the system will be running as often at 2am as it does at 7am
- pixie_ 13y agoThis is Elon's Segway - unproven, hyped up technology. This always happens with successful people/companies - they feel like they can do anything and can't fail - throwing rationality into the wind. I love Elon, but this is not worth his time at the moment.
- neurotech1 13y agoI don't think Elon Musk is being irrational about the Hyperloop. I think he understands the constraints on his time. SpaceX had 3 failures before successfully reaching orbit. If theres one about Elon Musk is that believes not only that he can fail, but that that failure is the most likely outcome. He has said this in interviews before.
- agumonkey 13y agoIt seems reusing his current tech and knowledge though.
- thomasjoulin 13y agoThe man publish a 40 pages technical document and you dismiss it with a comment. At least provide a single argument
- pixie_ 13y agoNo prototype - nothing even remotely close to a prototype. At least rockets and electric cars had some basis in reality before Elon started working on them.
- kmfrk 13y agoI think Musk at least sees this as an important learning opportunity that could yield information useful to both SpaceX and Tesla - beyond the goal of making the Hyperloop itself a reality. Much like what goes on at NASA, really.
- loceng 13y agoI think he's playing politics here, along with creating and riding a marketing wave. I think he'll likely do it all himself, especially since he'll discover more efficiencies and realize it's even more profitable than the current level / depth of research suggests - which is already much more efficient than other systems - even if you take into account the $6 billion to $60 billion comparison isn't apples-to-apples, you could still conceivably create 10 routes at $6 each (or shorter routes costing less), and then gaining the time benefit of transport taking 20 to 35 minutes - instead of 2-5 1/2 hours. I only wish I had the millions right now to building a surf board or two to ride this new wave that will be created. I have to focus on my current version of Elon's "PayPal" first. Patience is a virtue - and sometimes infuriating that things move so slowly.. but that is the game of life that everyone is in.
- cynusx 13y agoI can imagine him being torn on his priorities here, at the very least the Hyperloop project would drain some of his core engineering group which might not be in the best interest of tesla or spaceX. It will take a real entrepreneur to derisk the project enough though before it can be released under other management. At the very least this marketing wave will aid him in securing enough funding/political capital to build a prototype somewhere.
- kumarski 13y agoAnybody want to make a longbet against Musk?