We as people, we love our transportation and mobility.
It takes us where we want to go.
It brings us the things that enrich our lives,
sometimes from on the other side of the city,
sometimes from on the other side of the world.
It even enables fantastic events like this
where many of us traveled from great lengths.
I myself came from Los Angeles.
And the magic of being able to fly on a direct flight
and cover thousands and thousands of kilometers and arrived here safely
is a fantastic feat.
In fact, we love our transportation so much
that we often use it to congestion.
As most of you have probably experienced,
roads can be blocked with traffic.
Ports can be overloaded with demand and limit their capability.
And airports can struggle to add capacity.
Everywhere we look people want to travel, they want to use transportation,
they want to enable their own mobility.
And this is just today.
As Saif said, not only are we keeping up with yesterday, but we're accelerating.
And even as Justin was talking about, while there was at one time
a large problem with manure in the streets of London,
they predicted it was only going to get worse because more and more people
would be moving around the city.
They solved that through innovation and we have to do the same.
Significant increases in transportation are expected in every sector.
So let us think about what transportation does for us.
Transportation unlocks human potential. It drives commerce,
grows GDP, and it enables shared prosperity.
Yet we are today constrained by it.
Adding capacity on existing modes is often difficult, sometimes impossible,
and can often be very, very expensive.
But this is the 21st century.
Can't we do something about this?
I think we can, so let's talk a little bit about Hyperloop.
Hyperloop is a proposed new mode of transportation.
It's a fully integrated infrastructure and transportation system.
Let me explain how it might work.
The basis of the idea is we would actually build a full-length tube
between any two destinations,
then we would control the environment in that tube.
In our case, we put a very, very small amount of air,
but not a vacuum, in that tube,
and then we'd send a pod very quickly through it.
This allows us to move both very fast, very safe,
and extremely energy efficient.
So if you thought of an example,
there would be two tubes, one for each direction.
in that tube, again, is a very small amount of air, not a vacuum,
which is very important because it's very difficult and expensive
to maintain a full vacuum.
But if we assume there's some air in there,
then we can optimize the system's energy use for commercially available pumps.
As we move the pod through, we put a compressor on the front end of it.
This reduces drag even further so it actually allows us to make...
a smaller tube for a given pod diameter.
This reduces the total amount of energy used,
which is a part of the energy elegant solution that Hyperloop is.
We accelerate the vehicle with the linear electric motor.
This is a non-contact solution.
We also have a non-contact levitation system.
There's a few different opportunities, they include air bearings,
they include magnetic levitation.
But the non-contact element means a couple things;
it means very low service, very little drag.
So, overall as a system we think it's going to be extremely efficient.
As many of you may know,
the Hyperloop concept was first proposed by Elon Musk.
He published a white paper back in 2013,
and put it out as an open source idea. He was very busy
so he said anyone who wants to take up this challenge can do it.
Now, there have been tube -based transportation ideas
for hundreds of years.
Why is this different? Well, the full system architecture that Elon developed
is really brilliant. It actually is the right architecture.
It allows the tube to be constructed at a minimum expense by keeping it small.
The low pressure, not a vacuum, means you have a safe robust system.
That's very compliant to leaks. And the non-contact propulsion levitation
means you have a low drag system, that's very energy elegant,
and it's low maintenance.
So, we believe that the Hyperloop system architecture
is the right transportation architecture. In fact we believe so much...
we started the company around it.
So, what we did is we said...
'How do we want to deliver transportation and mobility solutions...
...to people to enrich their lives to embetter the world?'
So we started with his system level architecture
and started over from scratch on a clean sheet of paper and said...
'How would we take this system and deliver real value with it?'
So, of course, we liked the idea of moving people around.
And I'm sure all of you like that idea, too.
But we're also looking at delivering cargo,
we think there's a lot of opportunities to enrich our lives,
by adding capacity of ports,
by moving goods and containers around the world.
So, let's talk a little bit about what it means for a passenger experience.
As you enter the vehicle, as it accelerates,
we control the acceleration, it's a fully integrated system.
So, we're talking a very smooth elegant comfortable ride.
It's extremely safe, and of course it can be very fast.
When we think about what would happen on the cargo side
you can think about a logistics operation
where containers can be sent directly to their destination
in on-demand opportunity.
We really think there's a lot of great opportunities
that we can deliver with this technology.
Also, we're looking at routes that would both go over land and underwater.
When we talk about a route over land
we're generally talking about putting the system above grade.
Which means it doesn't interfere with existing modes of transportation
but is additive to all existing modes transportations.
In many cases, we can use existing right-of-ways,
and certainly animals could travel under it, rivers can flow under it.
We feel like it will be very naturally integrated with the landscape.
As we look to the future, underwater possibilities look very interesting,
and I think we'll be doing tunneling opportunities as well.
So we think we can deliver a lot of fantastic value,
bringing a lot of innovation to the Hyperloop system.
So what do you need to know about Hyperloop?
It sounds great it sounds fantastic, it sounds like science fiction.
Well, I agree on the first two,
but on the third, I will say this absolutely not science fiction.
Hyperloop is real and Hyperloop is happening.
We are doing the hardcore engineering to bring this technology to reality,
and I want to note here the transition as we move forward,
from drawings and illustrations of Hyperloop,
to pictures of real hardware.
These are some of the pieces of equipment and technology,
that we are developing today.
Our team were based in Los Angeles, California.
We are doing again the hardcore engineering,
in some very core important areas to bring the system online.
We're doing a lot of work on the tube side,
we're innovating heavily, we're doing pump tests
we're doing well development.
We've built the centerpiece you all see,
that's the levitation test rig allows us to test our non-contact level levitation,
at a variety of speeds and at a variety of pressures,
and the variety of operational performance characteristics.
We built her own wind tunnel to test not only the compressor blades,
that run in this low-pressure, high-speed environment,
but also the pod aerodynamics itself.
We're an engineering focused team,
and we're absolutely bringing this technology to fruition.
And we're doing it as fast as we can.
Right here, you see some actual Hyperloop tubes,
that we have on out test site in North Las Vegas, Nevada.
What we're doing is today we're doing the engineering,
and design work to validate the component,
and subsystem levels of Hyperloop.
The levitation, thermodynamics the pod structure, the tube itself,
the linear propulsion motor.
All of these things are going to come together in the very near term,
for a full system test,
and this is going to happen in North Las Vegas, Nevada.
This is going to be full-scale a full speed test.
And as we move forward to this,
we're calling this our Kitty Hawk moment.
This will be the moment where Hyperloop flies for the first time,
and we hope to have that running by the end of this year.
Now I say Kitty Hawk moment with a proud attachment to it.
I think we all know this moment.
We've seen this picture before, this picture was taken in 1903.
it changed our lives in a broad way, change the way we look at the world,
and the way that the Wright brothers got this moment,
is by developing the true technology to really deliver it.
This isn't the first flying machine made by man,
but we still attribute this photograph in this moment
to be the beginning of power-controlled flight,
because what the Wright brothers did,
is they develop the technology from the ground up.
Many people don't know, they actually built their own wind tunnel,
and tested different airfoil configurations,
and their ability to change their shapes.
If you don't know, as air is moving over an airfoil it creates lift.
One of the varieties of this,
is the speed of the air changes the amount of lift,
so to be able to change the airfoil shape,
and control lift at different speeds was a very critical part,
it also allowed them to steer the airplane,
by providing more left on one side and less than the other and bank.
So, these are the technologies of the Wright brothers developed,
by innovating, they took an idea, they added technology,
and they executed on it, and thanks for that...
And this is how we move forward
Innovation has led all forms of transportation
As you might know, the place we're flying today have continually innovating,
just the amazing things we can do on an airplane.
I was recently on a very long flight and the person next to me,
order to juice and it wasn't so cold that they wanted,
so, they were trying to get the attendance assistant,
to get some more ice for their juice,
and I thought this is a great moment.
We're 35,000 feet in the air traveling at 555 miles an hour,
and this person is worried about how cold their juices.
And this is a testament to technology and I look forward to the day,
when Hyperloop can offer that kind of opportunity,
and you guys can complain about the temperature of your juice.
I also want to point out that all of these forms of transportation,
have innovated heavily over the years.
And today we're stepping on the shoulders of these giants,
that have led the rail, automotive,
cargo shipping and airline industries.
I also want to talk a little bit about my personal experience with innovation.
I was a very early team member at SpaceX,
this is a great picture of me before I had a moustache.
I was... very proud to have been a part of that team,.
I've really experienced first-hand the power of a big bold vision,
and then a great team standing behind it,
and all the resources delivered to allow us to innovate.
In our days at SpaceX we innovated very, very deeply.
in less than 10 years from the start of the company,
SpaceX developed their own rocket,
all the technologies surrounding that which includes the structure,
the propulsion, the avionics the launch systems,
they launched that rocket into low Earth orbit,
they delivered... they developed a bigger rocket,
we even developed our own spaceship that...
this is a SpaceX Dragon capsule
then docked with the International Space Station,
and return to Earth in all of this in less than 10 years.
An amazing achievement and achieve true hardcore innovation.
I also want to point out that these things had been done before.
I'm saying SpaceX was deeply innovative,
but these things have been done before, rockets had gone into orbit,
spaceships had docked with the space station,
but SpaceX has done and continues to do,
is innovate to bring the cost structure down,
and that's what we're trying to do with Hyperloop.
Everybody here loves the idea of traveling in a Hyperloop,
but you don't want to pay 800 Dirhams to travel from here to Abu Dhabi.
You want to 80 or 40 or 20,
so the innovation is not only to develop the technology,
but to deliver a commercially valuable product,
that is going to enrich all of our lives,
and that's what we're trying to do as a company.
So, we look to the future
and we think there's some really fantastic opportunities with Hyperloop.
The question isn't what happens "if" Hyperloop works,
the question is what happens "when" Hyperloop works.
It's not only fast.
Hyperloop offers a multitude of opportunities,
that can really change the way our lives are lived.
And let's explore some of those.
Now, these people you see...
boarding, if these people have been boarding,
Hyperloop station in Abu Dhabi when I started this talk,
as of right now they'd be arriving in downtown Dubai.
Less than 15 minutes direct shot,
and it's on demand, Hyperloop leaves when you want it to leave,
and it doesn't stop at stations along the way.
There may be multiple stations but each Hyper pod,
goes directly to its destination.
So, I also want to point out that the ride for these passengers,
is extremely smooth as an integrated transportation system,
we control every part of it.
So, we can set the acceleration on people mover mode,
where the passengers are standing and holding on to a rail.
Or in many cases, we may have passengers sit in a chair and buckle up,
like you might ride in an airplane.
Of course, inside the tube there's no turbulence.
It's absolutely an elevator, you get in a very comfortable ride.
You arrive at your destination.
let's look at what an example regional network might look like,
and some of the opportunities it can provide.
I really like to stress the point that...
One of our goals is a packetize the delivery of goods and people.
What I mean by that is instead of having maybe a train with 600 people,
and if you miss one you wait 30 minutes for the next one.
We have very small bursts of people.
So the pods leave whenever you arrive you get on one.
Just like an elevator, and you go to your destination.
Also because we have small pods we can send them directly to their destination.
So wherever you are you can...
your pod goes only to where you need it to go, and doesn't stop another location.
We think this is going to be a fantastic opportunity for Hyperloop.
We also see ourselves serving intermodal ports.
We also see ourselves...
Delivering goods and cargo between ports and airports.
Here we have Al-Maktoum airport...
So it's not just about speed but it's about unlocking real estate.
Unlocking time.
If you can have one airport serve a whole region.
Because people can get to it in just five minutes from almost anywhere.
We think the opportunities of Hyperloop are fantastic.
And we're absolutely delivering the hardware to prove that that's the case.
We are trying to deliver our Kitty Hawk moment by the end of this year.
And will continue testing but we do believe...
We can have an operational in the next five or six years.
We're very excited about that, and then you can start to think about...
The bigger picture of what happens when you can change landscapes.
And you can have a distributed city when you talk about people moving.
When you look at cargo you can think about...
Restructuring or eliminating inventory finance.
Here's an example of Marseille port in the South of France.
It does a lot of great work, but what if you could take this port...
and increase the capacity of it and shrink its footprint?
What if you could even move this port offshore...
And turn what is beachfront property into the beach again?
This is just a small idea...
Of some of the big possibilities that are available with Hyperloop.
So, we are building this future and we really think we can deliver on it.
As we look to governments around the world...
The question is, how would you utilize this tool to help your region?
How would you utilize this tool to help your citizens?
The value is there, the value is coming.
And I can assure you that we're building it for you.
Thank you very much.
Very exciting, Brogan.
So, a couple of questions to you.
What do you think governments can do to help...
progressing this revolutionary project?
Thank you, that's a great question.
On the technology side, we're innovating very deeply.
Not only should we develop these technologies...
but to really make them cost effective.
And that's our job to deliver.
But as we move forward, we do see this is a new form of transportation.
So we want to develop the regulatory environment,
that is as innovative as we are.
Airplanes were not regulated with train regulations.
There was a custom set of regulations built for them.
And we're thankful because we all travel very safely through these regulations.
So we love regulations.
We want to find the regulation and certification environment...
That is custom-built for Hyperloop.
So you can't just copy and paste the public transportation regulation,
on a project like this?
We don't think so, we think there's some endemic elements of our technology,
That should be regulated based on, you know, the autonomous nature.
All the things, the natural safety elements that come with it, so...
we're looking forward to having this conversations.
Yes. The big question, the financials.
How do they look like? I mean, how much does it cost to build?
How much does it cost to ride?
Thank you. So, today we absolutely believe...
We can deploy and operate Hyperloop less than high speed rail
At a significant margin. Now that's today.
As we innovate deeply, we think we can take another...
Fifty percent out of that cost. So...
We honestly believe Hyperloop will be...
Almost free to ride in the next 10 to 15 years.
That's really exciting, I want actually to get myself into one of those.
- We'll ride together one day. - Thank you, thank you very much, Brogan.
- Good job, thank you. - Thank you, thank you.