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You'd better get that in writing:
A plan to build an ultrafast Hyperloop [
One] tube train has been given "verbal [government] approval" to connect large cities on the East Coast, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk says. He adds that the system would whisk passengers from New York to Washington, D.C., in 29 minutes.After his tweet about the plan set off intense interest, Musk added a clarification, stating, "Still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval, but am optimistic that will occur rapidly."
We're seeking more details from Musk and his companies that are involved in the Hyperloop project — from the vehicle unit to the Boring Co., which would dig the tunnels. He did not specify, for instance, which agency had given its approval or when construction might begin.
Engineers who are working on the project have the goal of sending pods through a tube at speeds of more than 700 mph, using magnetic levitation and an electric motor in a vacuum environment.
The Boring Company's mundane tunneling plans may have been a red herring to distract from underground Hyperloop development.
Is this how Muskmania dies? With an undeliverable promise of multi-billion dollar infrastructure? Or will Musk deliver a transportation system faster than the highest-speed rail, create the world's most valuable car company, and build a Hyperloop on Mars designed to transport him from the ice caps to his throne (crafted from the disinterred bones of Steve Jobs) at Olympus Mons?
n1 writes:
A White House spokesman said there had been "promising conversations to date" with Musk and Boring Company executives but would only say the administration is “committed to transformative infrastructure projects, and believe our greatest solutions have often come from the ingenuity and drive of the private sector.”
Several spokespeople who answered the phones at relevant city, state and federal government bodies laughed upon hearing of the claim that an interstate transit project with a significant street-level footprint in four of the east coast’s largest cities could be approved verbally.
“Who gave him permission to do that?” asked a spokesman with the Maryland department of transportation.
“Elon Musk has had no contact with Philadelphia officials on this matter,” said Mike Dunn, the city spokesman. “We do not know what he means when he says he received ‘verbal government approval’. There are numerous hurdles for this ‘hyperloop’ technology before it can become reality.”
A spokesperson for the state of Pennsylvania confirmed that neither the governor nor the state’s department of transportation had been contacted by Musk or his company.
Ben Sarle, a spokesman for the New York City mayor’s office, said in an email: “Nobody in City Hall, or any of our city agencies, has heard from Mr Musk or any representatives of his company.”
The Guardian article [emphasis added] continues on with quotes from government officials in New York, Washington DC and federal agencies who had similar statements.
This news comes the day after the SolarCity co-founder, Peter Rive announced his resignation. Lyndon Rive left the company in May. Tesla has been taking pre-orders for their new solar roof tiles since May. Installations were supposed to begin in June, but there has been no further news, functional product demonstrations or even technical specifications.
Earlier this week Elon Musk told the National Governors Association meeting that the solar roof for the Model 3 (or any car) was not practical and was an idea that would be "scrapped."
James Murdoch, Chief Executive Officer of 21st Century Fox and Linda Johnson Rice, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Johnson Publishing Company have joined the Tesla board of directors on Monday. Earlier this year, a letter from shareholders raised concerns about conflicts of interest among board members.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @08:53PM (4 children)
Hyperloop One (lead-off in tfa) is NOT a Musk company. It was formed shortly after Musk went public with his Hyperloop white paper. The stated goal of the Hyperloop One company is to develop Musk's idea, but without any Musk or Tesla ownership.
Here is the company website with board members listed:
https://hyperloop-one.com/team [hyperloop-one.com]
I don't know where the mistake is, but something is not right here...
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The Musk Hyperloop project is a student competition, using pods that are roughly 1/2 sized and testing them in a mile long tube set up next to SpaceX, http://www.spacex.com/hyperloop [spacex.com]
(Score: 2) by n1 on Friday July 21 2017, @09:04PM (3 children)
This is the entire tweet from Musk: "Just received verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop. NY-DC in 29 mins."
So yeah, the Hyperloop One shouldn't be in the summary and has since been edited out of TFA. I will fix the summary.
My opinion now is that Musk has made a smart move, get other people to develop this experimental tech while he makes money off the contracts from the hyperloop companies and govs investing to dig holes, and still gets all the credit for 'creating' it, because he wrote a white-paper of dreams but has minimal risk in the concept failing, but is likely to make many millions as a result of others trying.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @09:12PM (1 child)
...and this is why I love SN -- the correction is acknowledged within minutes!
Thank you N1.
Yes -- The Boring Company drills the tunnels (while other people have to raise the money).
Sounds suspiciously like the battery GigaFactory, that will sell lithium batteries to all comers, and is possibly a much bigger company (in actual income) than Tesla could ever hope to be.
Just like Levi Strauss made money selling jeans to the '49'er gold rush prospectors -- probably a lot more money than most of the prospectors made from gold.
(Score: 2) by BasilBrush on Saturday July 22 2017, @12:09AM
It's not possible for the Gigafactory to be bigger than Tesla, given that Tesla own the Gigafactory.
And I haven't heard they have any plans to sell batteries to anyone else anyway. It's all for Tesla cars and Powerwalls.
Hurrah! Quoting works now!
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday July 21 2017, @09:23PM
The NPR article does not say which Hyperloop company would be working on it (there are multiple [wikipedia.org]) but it does mention the involvement of Musk's The Boring Company, which was supposed to have been Musk's idea for improving car traffic in LA. It almost sounds like that was a cover story for Musk to begin his own Hyperloop development in secret.
Whose company has gotten the "approval"? It sounds like Musk is trying to compete with Hyperloop One and HTT (aside from not pursuing the originally proposed San Francisco-to-Los Angeles route and not competing in the same regions).
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]