The Hyperloop is not yet speeding passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco, but Hyperloop Technologies Inc. does have a new CEO. The Wall Street Journal reports that former Cisco president Rob Lloyd was appointed to the position on Wednesday. The Journal quotes Lloyd as saying the company has raised about $10 million and is looking to raise $80 million more to build a two-mile test loop in the Los Angeles area. Hyperloop consists of HyperPods that travel through tubes that can be underground, under water, on the ground, or supported above ground.
In a blog post yesterday, Lloyd wrote, “Today I am thrilled to be joining the Hyperloop Technologies team as CEO…. After spending 10 years as an entrepreneur, followed by 20 years growing up in a small company called Cisco that became big and changed the world, I am fired up by the opportunity to change the world again.”
He called the Hyperloop vision “compelling and disruptive”—like the Internet, but moving atoms, not bits.
Lloyd added, “Hyperloop is going to build partnerships with some of the largest engineering, construction and transportation companies in the world. We will embrace a design/build/transfer and operate business model, and will create a powerful ecosystem to quickly deliver the Hyperloop platform.”
Hyperloop Technologies, he said, has over 50 full-time employees and operates in a three-acre campus of three buildings with a total of 55,000 square feet of space.
He also cited some of the innovations employed in the Hyperloop concept. The company is currently evaluating air-bearing levitation technologies but may also consider passive magnetic levitation (maglev). As for propulsion, he noted, “All electric linear motors are used to propel the HyperPods through the tube…. We are optimizing and innovating on the full system of elements required for our high speed propulsion system,” which includes “…advanced energy storage, high-power drives power electronics, high-speed controls, and our custom electromagnetic motor.”
