On August 12, 2013, Elon Musk promised the LA to San Francisco Hyperloop by the end of 2020. The deadline passed and it didn't happen. Verdict as of October 26, 2026: missed. twoweeks.lol tracks 3 Musk claims about the Hyperloop (3 statements): 1 delivered (0 on time), 2 missed or cancelled.
Hyperloop Alpha (Aug 12 2013) specified a 35-minute one-way LA-to-SF trip 'from county line to county line.' Musk/The Boring Company never built an operational Hyperloop; the test tube was dismantled in 2022 and the company pivoted to the low-speed Las Vegas Loop. The 35-minute LA-SF journey was never delivered. Re-graded missed (2026-07-05 audit): 'cancelled' requires the goal to have been publicly abandoned, and it never was — Musk said in Apr 2022 that Boring Co 'will attempt to build a working Hyperloop,' TBC began full-scale hyperloop testing in Nov 2022 and still maintains a live Hyperloop roadmap page, and in April 2026 Musk re-asserted the exact LA-SF route ('<5% of CA HSR's cost'). The promise is alive and unmet — the overdue clock is legitimately ticking. Benzinga — Musk re-asserts LA–SF tunnel, April 2026 ↗
In July 2012 Musk said he would publish a Hyperloop design in about four weeks. Hyperloop Alpha came out on August 12, 2013, about a year late. It described a 35-minute trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
No Hyperloop was built. In July 2019 he said the 2020 pod competition would run in a 10 km vacuum tunnel with a curve. The tunnel was never built and no 2020 competition was held. The test tube was taken down in 2022, and The Boring Company's working system is the low-speed Las Vegas Loop.
The Hyperloop Alpha white paper, published by Musk in August 2013, specified a total one-way Los Angeles-to-San Francisco trip time of 35 minutes, county line to county line. The design called for an above-ground tube rather than a tunnel, and the widely quoted '30 minutes' was press shorthand for this figure. No such system was ever built, and the prediction is scored as cancelled.
| Date said | What he said | Deadline given | Source | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “Will publish something on the Hyperloop in about four weeks. Will forgo patents on the idea and just open source it. Not a vac tunnel btw.” | Aug 12, 2012 | @elonmusk, 2012-07-15 | Delivered · Late · 1.0 years late | |
| “The total one-way trip time is 35 minutes from county line to county line.” | end of 2020 | Hyperloop Alpha white paper… | Missed · 2,125 days past due | |
| “Next year's @Hyperloop competition will be in a 10km vacuum tunnel with a curve” | end of 2020 | @elonmusk, 2019-07-21 | Missed · 2,125 days past due |
“Will publish something on the Hyperloop in about four weeks. Will forgo patents on the idea and just open source it. Not a vac tunnel btw.”
What happened: Musk said in July 2012 he would publish the Hyperloop design in about four weeks. The Hyperloop Alpha paper came out on August 12 2013, about a year late. Hyperloop Alpha paper, Aug 12 2013 (Internet Archive) ↗
“Next year's @Hyperloop competition will be in a 10km vacuum tunnel with a curve”
What happened: Musk said the 2020 Hyperloop pod competition would run in a 10 km vacuum tunnel with a curve. The tunnel was never built and no 2020 competition was held. Wikipedia — Hyperloop pod competition ↗
Cancelled
Missed
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