Elon Musk has a history of making outlandish claims regarding his projects. His latest admission is just the newest problem for the Tesla CEO in a long and growing list of issues. The Tesla Hyperloop was announced by Musk in a paper he released way back in 2014. Musk claimed the Hyperloop would significantly reduce travel times and stated that a trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles, a trip that takes about 6 hours by road, could be traveled in 30 minutes. After the huge initial success of Tesla, the Hyperloop received large investments and was hailed as the future of public transportation.
Musk was not the first, or only, person to propose the Hyperloop system.
Many may have thought that the Hyperloop was an original idea coming from a real life “Tony Stark” looking to revolutionize the world and reduce our carbon footprint. Turns out, now that we know Musk a bit better, its more likely that it was a hairbrained idea by a businessman who just got lucky. The concept has existed for 200 years already, although few have made actual progress.
The concept is loosely based on the pneumatic tubes that can be found in buildings and offices. The pressurized tube would send messages and small items back and forth. The idea was first proposed nearly 200 years ago by a gentleman named George Medhurst, an English clockmaker and inventor. He would be an early pioneer of the concept and released multiple publications regarding the idea before his death.
When we consider the fact that Musk has a tendency to exaggerate the truth behind his projects, and the fact that no significant progress has been made in the field, the reality of the Hyperloop seems like something out of a science fiction story. The concept was taken on by other companies in places like Spain as well, however, they have also struggled to propel the technology forward.
Why has Musk and indeed the world given up on the Hyperloop concept?
The truth is, the concept faced so many hurdles and technical problems that the technology needed to make the project work was just too unrealistic and ridiculously expensive. Musk claimed the Hyperloop would be capable of speeds around 1000 KPH and border on the supersonic. While technically the technology does exist, the reality is much more complex than originally thought.
The two main issues we can decipher are the cost and safety, with the latter being the primary concern. Money and resources are of no concern to the richest men in the world like Musk. One thing we must give to him is, he knows how to get investments for his idea’s. However, the sheer amount of money that would be required to actually make the project work is astronomical.
The safety concerns are the main problem. The vacuumed tube would be pressurized to enable high speed, low friction travel on an air cushion or magnetic field that elevates the pod above the tracks. If there were a hole in the pressurized tube, the entire system could implode. So it appears that Musk has quietly let the idea slide, we suspect that might be the case for most of his proposals.
Is this the beginning of the end for Elon Musk and Tesla?
While the Hyperloop is fading away in the world’s rearview mirror, Musk and Tesla have a mountain of problems to navigate if they are to make a return to the top of the mobility sector. Tesla’s sales have dropped dramatically since the world got a better view of Musk and his opinions. His actions as the head of DOGE has had a disastrous effect on his and Tesla’s reputation all around the globe. With the Tesla board reportedly seeking out a new CEO, we must ask if this could be the beginning of the end for the enigmatic South African born “tycoon”?
