Hyperloop One will build Research Center in Spain
Virgin Hyperloop One is planning to build a half-billion dollar research center in Bobadilla in Spain’s Andalusian region.
The 19,000-square-meter (204,000-square-foot) center will test Hyperloop components, The Verge reported. Intriguingly, the center will not contain a test track.
That might mean Hyperloop One will conduct the tests at its facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company might also be planning to test components at the track its archrival Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT) is building in Toulouse, France.
The Verge did not say whether Hyperloop One is collaborating on HyperloopTT’s new pod. HyperloopTT’s first pod is under construction in Spain.
Is Hyperloop One Building a Factory in Spain?
The Bobadilla facility will be a joint venture between the Richard Branson-owned unicorn and Spain’s national rail infrastructure operator Renfe Operadora. The facility will reportedly cost $500 million (€431.17 million) to build.
News reports described the center as a complex where a wide variety of work will be done. That indicates the center might one day serve as a factory for the construction of Hyperloop components in Europe.
Virgin Hyperloop One chose Bobadilla because it is in the heart of Andalusia. Andalusia is Spain’s second largest aerospace cluster. There are over 9,000 transport and logistics companies and 20,000 research and development employees in the area.
Virgin Hyperloop One headquarters is in Los Angeles but it has a production facility and test track in North Las Vegas, Nevada. Like HyperloopTT, Hyperloop One is working on plans to build a Hyperloop track in the United Arab Emirates.
The Apple Hyperloop Fantasy
The gullibility and incredulity of the Apple Zombie media is once again on display. A ridiculous story about an Apple Hyperloop is making the rounds.
There are no plans for an Apple Hyperloop. Instead; the city of Cupertino, California; where Apple is headquartered, is exploring the possibility of building one, Inverse reported.
The only obvious connection between Apple and those plans is that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) pays a lot of taxes to Cupertino. The City Council is investing the possibility of using additional tax revenues for a Hyperloop connecting Cupertino and Downtown San Jose.
Given the reality that no human being has ever ridden in a Hyperloop pod that plan is dubious. Tellingly, Sir Richard Branson estimates that people will not travel in the Hyperloop until 2021.
It sounds as if Cupertino leaders are looking for an excuse to delay an unpopular transit project (probably light rail) rather than a futuristic transport system. One would hope that Cupertino’s city council would at least wait until someone tests invest to the taxpayers’ money in it.
Apple investing in Hyperloop is far-fetched, although the company has a closely guarded autonomous car project called Project Titan underway. This story is obviously a dream of Apple fans and not news.
