Elon Musk Plans For Hyperloop Are Too Ambitious, Critics Say

Elon Musk has some lofty plans for the Hyperloop, a system of travel using tubes that will make New York to Los Angeles trips in close to an hour.

But critics say Musk’s plans for the high-speed transit system are too ambitious, pointing out the Elon Musk himself seems to regret bringing it up.

On a conference call with analysts last week after his company Tesla’s earnings report, Musk said he was too focused on SpaceX and Tesla to devote much work to the Hyperloop.

On the call, Musk said:

“I kind of shot myself by ever mentioning the Hyperloop because I’m too strong I mean obviously have to focus on core business and SpaceX business and that’s more than enough. But I did commit to publishing a design and provide quite a detailed design I think on Monday and then invite critical feedback and see if the people can find ways to improve it and then you can just be out there it’s kind of like a open source design that maybe you can keep improving.”

Aside from the busy schedule of Elon Musk, critics say the Hyperloop seems too ambitious for a country that is still grappling with the idea of high-speed rail.

Still, the idea of the Hyperloop has generated a lot of excitement ahead of Elon Musk’s announcement Monday detailing plans.

Much of the Hyperloop hype has come from Musk himself, who has spoken of its potential to revolutionize travel.

“This system I have in mind, how would you like something that can never crash, is immune to weather, it goes 3 or 4 times faster than the bullet train,” Elon Musk said of the Hyperloop. “It goes an average speed of twice what an aircraft would do. You would go from downtown LA to downtown San Francisco in under 30 minutes. It would cost you much less than an air ticket than any other mode of transport.”