Have you heard of the Hyperloop? It’s the concept described as “a cross between a Concorde, a railgun and a bullet train.” Think: Los Angeles to Vegas in 20 minutes or LA to San Francisco in 35 minutes.
A new company called Hyperloop Technologies, Inc. was announced on the cover of Forbes this week, and they are taking on a bold new mission. I’m proud to be a founding director of the company, and very excited about the supercredible team that has come together to make Hyperloop happen.
I sit on the Board of the company along with Shervin Pishevar (major early Investor in Uber, Sherpa Ventures), Joe Lonsdale (Founder Palantir & Formation 8), Jim Messina (Pres. Obama’s Reelection Campaign Manager), David Sacks (Paypal, Yammer), and Brogan BamBrogran (Former SpaceX Engineer, and acting CEO).
by Darrell Etherington — TechCrunch Apple is working on a car, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Mac maker kicked off a top-secret project to develop an electric car with a minivan aesthetic, per the WSJ’s sources, after CEO Tim Cook approved the project nearly a year ago. It includes “hundreds” of staffers and is led by Ford Motor vet and Apple VP Steve Zadesky. The project involves research into battery tech, robotics and metal production, according to the paper.
The report comes hot on the heels of a Financial Times story confirming Apple R&D efforts around car tech, and goes further than either that report or an earlier one from Business Insider wherein an Apple employee reportedly confirmed some kind of car-focused project. As I wrote earlier, it makes perfect logical sense that Apple would focus some effort on this area, given the direction in which the tech industry in general is headed.
San Francisco to Los Angeles in 35 minutes flat—that was the dream of the Hyperloop.
Back in 2013, Elon Musk introduced the world to this dream a 60 page white paper. The paper caused a stir. The idea—a levitating, solar-power supersonic train—was both pure geek porn and a transportation revolution in the making. It definitely captured people’s imagination.
But would it ever get made—now that was the question.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has today revealed the designs for the New Tube for London – a fleet of 250 trains set to go into operation in the mid-2020s. The design, which pays homage to the heritage of the Underground, brings significant improvements to the service, with the trains capable of fully automatic operation.
The New Tube services aim to tackle the city’s rising population by not only increasing capacity, but also improving speed and frequency of trains. Transport for London (TfL) worked with PriestmanGoode on the new design, which is set to make significant improvements to the service while retaining the recognizable look of London Underground transportation.
For years, laws have been put into place to discourage distracted driving: no texting while driving, no talking on the phone while driving, the list goes on. General Motors is taking things a step further by commissioning a vehicle that detects and alerts drivers to their distracted behavior.
The Financial Times reports that General Motors is preparing to launch the first mass-produced vehicles with eye- and head-tracking technology to detect distracted behaviors in drivers.
Toyota today said it’s investigated the possibility of vehicles that are capable of hovering just above the road, technology designed to improve efficiency. In an interview at Bloomberg’s Next Big Thing Summit in San Francisco, Hiroyoshi Yoshiki — the managing officer with Toyota’s technical administration group — said that the company had been studying a similar idea of flying cars at one of its “most advanced” research and development areas, but cautioned that the concept was not like actually flying around in three-dimensional space. Instead, he said, the plan is to get the car “a little bit away” from the road to reduce friction, similar to a hovercraft.
Following the interview, Yoshiki declined to elaborate on when the company began investigating the idea, how far along it is, or if it ever plans to bring it to market.
The biggest problem automakers selling electric cars face is limited range. No one wants to get caught without any juice. To get around this concern, Tesla, whose Model S offers the best range (up to 265 miles), is building a vast network of “Supercharger” stations that make it possible to take epic road trips. Now BMW is following suit, launching a network of charging stations to make owning its first all-electric car, the range-handicapped i3, more convenient.
The automaker announced last week that it has developed an impressively small, lightweight, and inexpensive charger that it is working to install around the country. BMW will sell the charger to “authorized partners”—starting with dealers—for $6,548. NRG eVgo, a private EV-charging company, will install at least 100 around California and offer free charging to i3 owners through the end of 2015.
The Xodus One Foundation will be conducting workshops on Gravity Modification, based on Ben Solomon’s 12-year study titled “An Introduction to Gravity Modification” and other later peer reviewed papers. And has been vetted by the Foundation’s Chief Science Office, Dr. Andrew Beckwith.
This thought provoking & bleeding edge physics/technology workshop will assists attendees to understand how the future of propulsion technology is changing. And therefore, adjust their corporate programs to expect these future technologies and research programs.
FAQ: 1. Types of Workshops:: There are 2 types, the Short 1-day and the Long 2-day. 2. Who Should Attend: Engineers, Physicists & Corporate Managers responsible for propulsion research programs. 3. Workshop Fees: See respective brochures, below. Workshop fees are tax deductible. 4. Workshop Payment: Uses secure Amazon Payments. If you don’t have an account please sign up a head of time, prior to making tax deductible workshop fee payments. 5. Seating: On a First Come First Served basis, based on payment dates. In the event of overbooking, later registrants will placed in the next business day workshops. If you are attending the Long workshop, please confirm seating dates before finalizing travel arrangements. 6. Future Schedule:Link to Future Schedule 7. Some Comments: Thorough, Well Thought Out, Brilliant …
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Short Workshop: Type: This is a 1-day workshop. Brochure:Link to brochure. Location: Webcast Workshop Date: August 20, 2014. Future dates to be determined. Pay By Date: August 13, 2014. Future dates to be determined Payment: Use donate button below to make $100 payment via Amazon Payments
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Long Workshop: Type: This is a 2-day workshop, still under development: Brochure:See tentative brochure. Location: 1624 Market St., #202, Denver, CO 80202. Workshop Date: To Be Determined Pay By Date: To Be Determined Payment: Payment button coming soon.
Welcome to the Speed Lab, where Popular Science explores the most important disruptive technology in the world of cars and transportation.
We want to start by setting something straight: “Speed” for our purposes doesn’t just stand for acceleration or how fast a vehicle can go—although we certainly relish testing those limits. It’s about the rapid pace at which the automotive industry is reinventing itself. After decades of slow, steady improvements, we’re now in an age of dramatic change.
In the next year alone, we can expect great leaps in autonomy and fuel economy. Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, and others are in a race to put hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles on the road by 2015—or even sooner, in Hyundai's case. (I tested Toyota’s prototype late last year in Tokyo, and let me tell you, it was a blast to drive.) Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan aim to offer autonomous-driving vehicles by 2020.
Paul Elio believes he’s found a niche in the personal transportation market with a low-cost vehicle that can go really far between trips to the gas station.
Elio Motors has designed a three-wheeled vehicle that gets 84 miles per gallon. And with an eight-gallon tank it can get more than 670 miles in one fill up. The car’s price tag: $6,800.
“We’re not just creating a new vehicle,” Elio said in a press release announcing that more than 10,000 people have already reserved the vehicle. “We’re creating an entirely new industry segment that appeals to people who want a low-cost, highly efficient mode of transportation, but still want to own a unique vehicle that will turn some heads. The Elio gives people the best of both worlds.”
