Hyperloop Wars? The Pressure To Reach 700 MPH Sparks Fierce Rivalry

The ultra-high-speed mass transit invention of Tesla boss Elon Musk has shaped a hotbed of competitive rivalry with major stakeholders exchanging criticisms at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia.

 

Musk's Hyperloop notion aims to transform transport and let people travel at just under the speed of sound. It works by carrying a number of commuters in capsules that would be driven by magnets at a speed of around 1200 Kph - and could take you from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 minutes.

 

Several tech companies are working on the perception of Hyperloop, as well as Hyperloop One and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT), and are at different stages of development. The race to be the decisive leader in the space has encouraged an intense debate between these companies.

 

"We are actually engineering and building and using steel, not powerpoints. And we hit 100 miles per hour in one second and we'll hit 700 mph by the end of the year. Full scale, full pod, we'll be able to do cargo and people. So you'll use Uber within the cities for transportation and then between the cities you would use Hyperloop," Shervin Pishevar, chairman and co-founder at Hyperloop One, told CNBC on the outskirts of the Russian conference on Friday.

 

"Hyperloop One is the only one company that has the product. No-one else does, they just have talk ... we've raised the capital; we've built the company, 170 full-time employees. They (the competition) have just slides," he added.

His remarks come after a board discussion on Thursday with Dirk Ahlborn, the CEO of HTT, who was questioned directly about the rivalry in the project. Ahlborn claimed that his major rival was a relative latecomer to project and even noted the conflict of both firms having similar names. Hyperloop One was previously known as Hyperloop Technologies.

 

In May, HTT exposed the magnetic technology that will allow these capsules to levitate and move. It also showed off how its structure will use vibranium, a material made of carbon fibre with sensors embedded in it. In January, it trailed for construction permits of the first full-scale five-mile hyperloop track in Quay Valley, California. Meanwhile, Hyperloop One tested its electric motor in May in its first open-air demonstration.

 

Pishevar said "history will show what he (Ahlborn) is, just through the ability to actually deliver anything."

 

"So Hyperloop One is out there, you can see the tests ... the whole world watched that ... by the end of the year you'll see the full scale system that Elon envisioned working," he added. "We don't think about them (HTT), we're just moving forward. We're the actual company that is building anything," he said.