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Elon Musk crowns WARR Hyperloop with 3rd consecutive win after record-breaking 290 mph run
WARR Hyperloop, a team of students from the Technical University of Munich, has been dubbed as the overall winner of the 2018 Hyperloop Pod Competition. During its winning runs, Team WARR’s sleek, aerodynamic pod was able to propel itself to speeds of 290 mph, breaking the record set last December by Virgin Hyperloop One’s pod, which hit the 240 mph mark.
As noted by SpaceX on the event’s official page, the competition for 2018 would be focused on a single criterion — maximum speed. This year’s competition only had a couple of requirements for the teams participating in the event. The Hyperloop Pods must be self-propelled, and they have to be fast. Very, very fast.
https://twitter.com/WARR_Hyperloop/status/1021256781106835457
Achieving top speed in SpaceX’s Hyperloop test track on its headquarters in Hawthorne, CA, is a challenge in itself. The test track, after all, is only 0.8 miles long, which requires the self-propelled pods to accelerate hard immediately from a standstill. In a press release last month, Team WARR stated that they are hoping to achieve 372 mph (600 kph) in this year’s competition. The team’s pod ultimately did not hit 372 mph, but its 290 mph run was enough to crown it the winner of this year’s Hyperloop event.
Elon Musk was in attendance at the 2018 Hyperloop Pod Competition. For their feat, Team WARR received a special token from the Tesla and SpaceX CEO — a signed, metallic model of Musk’s original Hyperloop pod design. With this win, WARR Hyperloop has managed to establish itself as the team to beat in SpaceX’s competition. The team of students from Munich, after all, has garnered the fastest pod award for three consecutive events.
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- A token for the winning team, from Elon Musk. [Credit: WARR Hyperloop]
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- WARR Hyperloop’s pod inside SpaceX’s test track. [Credit: WARR Hyperloop]
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- WARR Hyperloop’s pod. [Credit: WARR Hyperloop]
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- Team WARR celebrates after winning the 2018 SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition. [Credit: WARR Hyperloop]
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- Elon Musk congratulates Team WARR for winning the 2018 SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition. [Credit: WARR Hyperloop]
WARR Hyperloop wins the 2018 SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition. [Credit: WARR Hyperloop/Flickr]
The three finalists for the 2018 Hyperloop Pod Competition were formidable teams. Apart from Team WARR, Team Delft from the Netherlands, which won the overall best pod award in SpaceX’s first Hyperloop competition, was also present. EPF Loop from Switzerland was also a finalist. When it came to the actual top speed attempts, Delft Hyperloop and EPF Loop were faced with misfortune.
Team Delft’s Hyperloop pod, for one, was only able to attain a top speed of 88 mph before stalling. The pod, which was the latest iteration of its winning design during the first Hyperloop Competition, was already showing problems in the week leading up to the event, including a fried circuit board not long before the competition. EPF Loop, on the other hand, was also met with complications that ultimately caused its pod to accelerate to speeds of only 55 mph.
Ultimately, WARR Hyperloop’s victory could very well be due to the engineering that went to the team’s pod itself. As noted by WARR Hyperloop in a press release, this year’s pod has been upgraded from a 50 kW electric motor to a system employing eight smaller electric motors with a total output of 240 kW or 320 hp. The pod is also smaller than its predecessor and is more aerodynamic in shape, allowing it to accelerate and stop without any problems.
Watch WARR Hyperloop’s teaser for its pod in the video below.
Elon Musk
Starlink achieves major milestones in 2025 progress report
Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets.
Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets. The company also completed deployment of its first-generation Direct to Cell constellation, launching over 650 satellites in just 18 months to enable cellular connectivity.
SpaceX highlighted Starlink’s impressive 2025 progress in an extensive report.
Key achievements from Starlink’s 2025 Progress
Starlink connected over 4.6 million new customers with high-speed internet while bringing service to 35 more regions worldwide in 2025. Starlink is now connecting 9.2 million people worldwide. The service achieved this just weeks after hitting its 8 million customer milestone.
Starlink is now available in 155 markets, including areas that are unreachable by traditional ISPs. As per SpaceX, Starlink has also provided over 21 million airline passengers and 20 million cruise passengers with reliable high-speed internet connectivity during their travels.
Starlink Direct to Cell
Starlink’s Direct to Cell constellation, more than 650 satellites strong, has already connected over 12 million people at least once, marking a breakthrough in global mobile coverage.
Starlink Direct to Cell is currently rolled out to 22 countries and 6 continents, with over 6 million monthly customers. Starlink Direct to Cell also has 27 MNO partners to date.
“This year, SpaceX completed deployment of the first generation of the Starlink Direct to Cell constellation, with more than 650 satellites launched to low-Earth orbit in just 18 months. Starlink Direct to Cell has connected more than 12 million people, and counting, at least once, providing life-saving connectivity when people need it most,” SpaceX wrote.
News
Tesla Giga Nevada celebrates production of 6 millionth drive unit
To celebrate the milestone, the Giga Nevada team gathered for a celebratory group photo.
Tesla’s Giga Nevada has reached an impressive milestone, producing its 6 millionth drive unit as 2925 came to a close.
To celebrate the milestone, the Giga Nevada team gathered for a celebratory group photo.
6 million drive units
The achievement was shared by the official Tesla Manufacturing account on social media platform X. “Congratulations to the Giga Nevada team for producing their 6 millionth Drive Unit!” Tesla wrote.
The photo showed numerous factory workers assembled on the production floor, proudly holding golden balloons that spelled out “6000000″ in front of drive unit assembly stations. Elon Musk gave credit to the Giga Nevada team, writing, “Congrats on 6M drive units!” in a post on X.
Giga Nevada’s essential role
Giga Nevada produces drive units, battery packs, and energy products. The facility has been a cornerstone of Tesla’s scaling since opening, and it was the crucial facility that ultimately enabled Tesla to ramp the Model 3 and Model Y. Even today, it serves as Tesla’s core hub for battery and drivetrain components for vehicles that are produced in the United States.
Giga Nevada is expected to support Tesla’s ambitious 2026 targets, including the launch of vehicles like the Tesla Semi and the Cybercab. Tesla will have a very busy 2026, and based on Giga Nevada’s activities so far, it appears that the facility will be equally busy as well.
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Tesla Supercharger network delivers record 6.7 TWh in 2025
The network now exceeds 75,000 stalls globally, and it supports even non-Tesla vehicles across several key markets.
Tesla’s Supercharger Network had its biggest year ever in 2025, delivering a record 6.7 TWh of electricity to vehicles worldwide.
To celebrate its busy year, the official @TeslaCharging account shared an infographic showing the Supercharger Network’s growth from near-zero in 2012 to this year’s impressive milestone.
Record 6.7 TWh delivered in 2025
The bar chart shows steady Supercharger energy delivery increases since 2012. Based on the graphic, the Supercharger Network started small in the mid-2010s and accelerated sharply after 2019, when the Model 3 was going mainstream.
Each year from 2020 onward showed significantly more energy delivery, with 2025’s four quarters combining for the highest total yet at 6.7 TWh.
This energy powered millions of charging sessions across Tesla’s growing fleet of vehicles worldwide. The network now exceeds 75,000 stalls globally, and it supports even non-Tesla vehicles across several key markets. This makes the Supercharger Network loved not just by Tesla owners but EV drivers as a whole.
Resilience after Supercharger team changes
2025’s record energy delivery comes despite earlier 2024 layoffs on the Supercharger team, which sparked concerns about the system’s expansion pace. Max de Zegher, Tesla Director of Charging North America, also highlighted that “Outside China, Superchargers delivered more energy than all other fast chargers combined.”
Longtime Tesla owner and FSD tester Whole Mars Catalog noted the achievement as proof of continued momentum post-layoffs. At the time of the Supercharger team’s layoffs in 2024, numerous critics were claiming that Elon Musk was halting the network’s expansion altogether, and that the team only remained because the adults in the room convinced the juvenile CEO to relent.
Such a scenario, at least based on the graphic posted by the Tesla Charging team on X, seems highly implausible.
Starlink achieves major milestones in 2025 progress report
Tesla Giga Nevada celebrates production of 6 millionth drive unit
