Hyperloop Startup Has a Dream Team and $8.5 Million in Funding

[CommanderFrank]

Every now and again we hear another bit of information on the proposed Hyperloop, the brain child of Elon Musk. While most dismiss the idea of the Hyperloop out of hand, Hyperloop Technologies has stepped up its campaign with an initial funding of $8.5 Million to get the project moving.

Most notably, a startup called Hyperloop Technologies is emerging from "stealth mode" to support the effort, according to a Forbes report.

 

[sfsuphysics]

8.5 million already... wow that ought to get them at least a set of plans drawn up and maybe an environmental study on a mile or two of desert.

 

[Scythe]

8.5 million already... wow that ought to get them at least a set of plans drawn up and maybe an environmental study on a mile or two of desert.

I dunno. They have some heavy hitters on board.

 

[Deleted member 126051]

8.5 Million? With an M?

Pfft. It's not serious then.

8.5 million is a fart in a windstorm compared to how much this project would ACTUALLY cost.

 

[CreepyUncleGoogle]

Only 8.5 million? That's not really enough to make an explosion or fire worthy of the other products the person that's claiming he came up with the idea has made.

 

[amdgamer]

8.5 Million? With an M?

Pfft. It's not serious then.

8.5 million is a fart in a windstorm compared to how much this project would ACTUALLY cost.

While this sounds really neat, that is exactly true as a project like this needs MANY billions and possibly tens of billions just to serve a small region.

 

[xX_Jack_Carver_Xx]

And the moment someone's "Pod" crashes and they are splattered across the Texas prairie, it all comes to and end.

 

[dr/owned]

It would probably cost millions just to deal with all the environmental lawsuits something like this would trigger. What's sad is that if you tried to build our highway system today from scratch it would never get done.

 

[GearChoices]

It would probably cost millions just to deal with all the environmental lawsuits something like this would trigger. What's sad is that if you tried to build our highway system today from scratch it would never get done.

Reliance on automobiles for personal transportation was never a good idea in the first place, as we can see now with the extreme pollution, hazardous driving conditions, and ever-growing traffic congestion. Should have spent all those resources on expanding rail and any other forms of public transit.

 

[GearChoices]

But you're right in general, today NOTHING can get done.

 

[SavageThrash]

Nice to see this moving forward.

Sure 8.5 million won't get you a hyperloop but I'm sure lots of people said Elons investment into SpaceX was too small to get to orbit.

8.5 gets the ball rolling.

 

[Talyrius]

Did any of you actually read the article? The $8.5 million is just the beginning. They're raising $80 million more to build a small track to test pod designs and to prove to investors that it's actually a viable method of transportation.

 

[nutzo]

Reliance on automobiles for personal transportation was never a good idea in the first place, as we can see now with the extreme pollution, hazardous driving conditions, and ever-growing traffic congestion. Should have spent all those resources on expanding rail and any other forms of public transit.

Spoken like a true elitist.

Lets force all those little people to cram themselves onto over crowded trains and buses, make them spend 4 times as long getting anywhere, so to free up the roads so important people like you don't have to wait in traffic.


Guess we should never have given the average person the freedom to go where they want, when they want.

Have you even looked at what mass transit costs to run in most cities? Out here in Southern California, they keep raiding the highway budgets to pay for mass transit, which less than 5% of the people ride. If they actually started charging what each ride actually cost, that would likely drop to 1 or 2%.
If you could somehow convince 10% of the population to take mass transit, many cities would be bankrupt in a few months.

 

[iDylan]

And the moment someone's "Pod" crashes and they are splattered across the Texas prairie, it all comes to and end.

Yup. This is exactly why the automobile never took off

 

[TheOneKnownAsMe]

Yup. This is exactly why the automobile never took off

The automobile took off in an era that experienced a mere fraction of the political and legal gridlock that we experience these days. It is now exponentially harder to do anything than it was 15, 20, 50 or 100 years ago, from a legal or political point of view. Regardless of which side (or neither side) you associate with, you can't deny that.