One of the companies that took on the responsibility of building the fast, pod-based transportation system envisioned by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is calling it quits. It’s shutting down, selling off its assets, closing offices, and laying off employees. All formal operations will end on December 31. At that point, all of Hyperloop One’s intellectual property will be shifted to its majority stakeholder, Dubai-based port logistics firm DP World. That includes a short test track outside Las Vegas and other machinery.
The futuristic company, which raised about $450 million since its 2014 founding, had promised to build tube-encased lines that would zip passengers and freight from city to city at airplane-like speeds. It built a small test track near Las Vegas and, for a time, took the name Virgin Hyperloop One after Richard Branson’s company invested. But it removed the branding after deciding to shift its focus to cargo transportation last year.
The company has yet to win a single contract to build a working hyperloop. The idea is to use magnetic levitation to whisk people or goods in vehicles through airless tubes at airline-like speeds. For example, trips from New York to Washington would take only 30 minutes — double the time of a commercial jet flight and four times faster than a train.
Reuters reports that the Los Angeles-based firm will sell off its remaining assets, while employment for its remaining employees will end on December 31 this year. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. It’s the latest blow for a transportation startup that has struggled to turn its promising vision into reality, and it comes less than two weeks after Tesla recalled more than 2 million cars because of a flaw in their Autopilot software that could cause them to lose control.
The company was founded in 2014 following Musk’s release of a white paper that outlined his vision for a revolutionary mode of transit that would use magnets and vacuum tubes to move people and goods from city to city at up to 760 miles per hour. Over the years, the concept underwent several iterations and attracted a roster of investors and advisors, including former Apple CEO Tim Cook and billionaire Jeff Bezos. But even with the financial backing of Branson’s Virgin Group, the company could not secure a deal to build a real-life hyperloop.