German team registers the top speed (again) in Elon Musk’s Hyperloop pod race
GeekWire | Hyperloop
by Alan Boyle
5y ago
The TUM Hyperloop team shows off its pod racer. (TUM via Facebook)The name may have changed, but the result is the same: For the fourth time in a row, a German team registered the top speed in SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s Hyperloop pod race for college-level engineers. The TUM Hyperloop team from the Technical University of Munich — formerly known as WARR Hyperloop — sent its sleek pod racer through a specially built, mile-long test track next to SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., at a top speed of 288 mph (463 kilometers per hour). There was some drama at the end of the run, when the pod e ..read more
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High-speed rail connecting Seattle to Vancouver BC would spur $355B in economic growth, study finds
GeekWire | Hyperloop
by Monica Nickelsburg
5y ago
Microsoft wants to make high-speed rail connecting Vancouver and Seattle a reality. (BigStock Photo) A high-speed train connecting the biggest cities in the Pacific Northwest — zipping passengers from Seattle to Portland or Vancouver in less than an hour — would be an economic engine for the region, a new study finds. The Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) published the results of a years-long study this week. It estimates that a high-speed rail connecting Portland, Ore., Seattle, and Vancouver, B.C., would spark $335 billion in economic growth in the region. The proposed project ..read more
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MIT leads in first round of Elon Musk’s Hyperloop contest, but UW is in the race
GeekWire | Hyperloop
by Alan Boyle
5y ago
Elon Musk, the originator of the Hyperloop concept, addresses students. (Texas A&M photo) The Massachusetts Institute of Technology won the top rating in the design phase of a SpaceX-sponsored contest to develop levitating cars for a Hyperloop rapid-transit test track. More than 20 other teams, including a student group from the University of Washington, were also cleared for this year’s big race. The design weekend, conducted at Texas A&M University, marked the first winnowing of the field for the competition. More than 115 student engineering teams, representing 27 U.S. states and 20 ..read more
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Elon Musk to Hyperloop industry: ‘It’s really not that hard’
GeekWire | Hyperloop
by Molly Brown
5y ago
Elon Musk Elon Musk has a message for those working on developing a Hyperloop. “It’s really not that hard.” The Tesla and SpaceX CEO stopped by CNN Money to give a brief interview in which he talked about how we’ve pretty much exhausted exploring earth and how transportation should evolve. His dream (and admittedly everyone who’s ever flown, unless you enjoy sitting in a typical airplane for five-plus hours): “The most important thing that is to happen is the transition of transportation to electric,” Musk told CNN. “The ideal long-distance transportation mechanism is the supersonic, vertical ..read more
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Elon Musk shifts focus of his grand tunnel vision from cars to walkers and cyclists
GeekWire | Hyperloop
by Alan Boyle
5y ago
An animation shows an electric-powered pod traveling through a transit tunnel at 124 mph. (Elon Musk via Twitter) Tesla cars riding electric-powered tracks? Forget about it, at least for now. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and founder of The Boring Company, says pedestrians and cyclists will be the first users of his underground transit tunnels and Hyperloop tubes. In a series of Friday afternoon tweets, Musk said “all tunnels and Hyperloop will prioritize pedestrians and cyclists over cars.” “Will still transport cars, but only after personalized mass transit needs are met,” he explained. “It’s ..read more
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Hyperloop One revs up funding and speed as billionaire Richard Branson takes chair
GeekWire | Hyperloop
by Alan Boyle
5y ago
Virgin Hyperloop One’s blue and black pod goes through Phase 3 testing at the company’s DevLoop site in Nevada. (Virgin Hyperloop One Photo) Virgin Hyperloop One now officially has British billionaire Richard Branson as its chairman, along with $50 million more in funding for its rapid-transit development effort. The company also reported that its test pod reached a top speed of 240 mph during its Phase 3 round of testing, which finished up last week. The tests took place at Virgin Hyperloop One’s 500-meter (1,640-foot) DevLoop test tunnel in Nevada. Phase 3 tested the prototype pod’s electric ..read more
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Pacific Hyperloop keeps chugging along amid interest in ultra-high-speed transit
GeekWire | Hyperloop
by Alan Boyle
5y ago
An artist’s conception shows a Hyperloop pod parked at a transit station. (Hyperloop One Illustration) Pacific Hyperloop is moving ahead with its concept for tube travel between Seattle and Portland, in hopes of riding in the slipstream of the Pacific Northwest’s growing interest in ultra-high-speed transit. “If Seattle and Portland were just 20 minutes apart, what could we accomplish together?” Charlie Swan, a University of Washington senior who’s Pacific Hyperloop’s co-founder and regional engagement manager, said on Saturday during the TEDxSeattle 2017 conference. Swan said sending magnetic ..read more
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Ex-Amazonian: Hyperloop and other next-gen transportation planning could bring ‘HQ2’ to Texas
GeekWire | Hyperloop
by Nat Levy
5y ago
An artist’s conception shows a Hyperloop transit tube heading toward a city skyline. (Hyperloop One Illustration) One of Amazon’s leadership principles is to think big, and that’s exactly what a former Amazon employee is encouraging cities to do if they want to land the retail giant’s second headquarters. Brittain Ladd, who worked on the global expansion of Amazon’s grocery arm AmazonFresh and is now a supply chain consultant, said cities need to look beyond just finding somewhere for Amazon to set up a campus. He said cities in the same state shouldn’t compete with each other, and instead the ..read more
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Hyperloop One’s picks for high-tech transit include Midwest, Rockies, Texas, Florida
GeekWire | Hyperloop
by Alan Boyle
5y ago
An artist’s concept shows a Hyperloop transit tube heading toward a city skyline. (Hyperloop One Illustration) A California startup that aims to turn tech pioneer Elon Musk’s Hyperloop rapid-transit concept into reality has chosen 10 winners in a global competition – including proposed routes stretching from Chicago to Pittsburgh, Cheyenne to Denver, Dallas to Houston and Miami to Orlando. Other winners in the Hyperloop One Global Challenge include teams from Canada and Mexico, Britain and India – but no one from the Pacific Northwest. Teams proposing a Seattle-to-Portland passenger line and a ..read more
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Germany’s WARR team wins SpaceX’s Hyperloop II race with 201 mph pod run
GeekWire | Hyperloop
by Alan Boyle
5y ago
SpaceX founder Elon Musk looks over to the WARR Hyperloop team as he announces the group’s winning time in the second Hyperloop pod competition. The portal to the test tunnel is to the right of Musk. (WARR Hyperloop via Facebook) The speediest team from SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s first Hyperloop pod competition has done it again: WARR Hyperloop from Germany’s Technical University of Munich won today’s second contest by sending its magnetic-levitation pod through a nearly mile-long test tunnel at a peak speed of 201 mph. Musk announced WARR’s victory to a crowd in the stands at SpaceX’s headqua ..read more
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