There are two parts to the Hyperloop "proposal": one is the technology, which is interesting; the other is the route, the cost, the politics. There are critique

There are two parts to the Hyperloop "proposal": one is the technology, which is interesting; the other is the route, the cost, the politics. There are critiques of the technology and boosterism of the technology -- I'm not able to judge, and I don't doubt that the idea is cool and possibly a way to build a high speed interconnect from some arbitrary point A to some other arbitrary point B. But the rest of it, the ridiculous route proposed, the estimates of right-of-ways and construction costs, and the comparison to the CA HSR plans that are going forward -- invited explicitly by Musk -- those parts of the plan are ipso facto nonsensical. That's why some people think it's just a tactical salvo of disinformation aimed at fragmenting what political support CA HSR has.