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SpaceX’s returning Hyperloop champion prepares to hit 372 mph on July 21 competition
For the fourth year in a row, SpaceX will be holding its Hyperloop Pod Competition. The event, which features teams of students from universities across the globe, is expected to raise the game this year, with returning champion TUM Hyperloop (formerly WARR Hyperloop) from the Technical University of Munich looking to hit half the speed of sound with its upgraded pod.
TUM has been competing in SpaceX’s Hyperloop Pod Competitions since the first tournament was held in 2015. The team has created a reputation for creating incredibly quick pods over the years, even beating the 240 mph record set by Virgin Hyperloop in 2018 with an impressive 290 mph run. Even more notable was that TUM was able to accomplish this feat at SpaceX’s Hyperloop test track, which is only 0.8 miles long.
Inasmuch as this was impressive, the student team from Munich is not resting on their laurels this year. SpaceX requires returning participants to the Hyperloop Pod Competition to introduce upgrades and revisions to their past pod designs, and that is exactly what TUM did. The new pod, christened simply as Pod IV, is almost 1.70 meters (5.57 feet) long, 50 cm (19.6 inches) wide and weighs approximately 70 kg (154 lbs), almost 8 kg (17.6 lbs) lighter than 2018’s Pod III, which hit a record-setting speed of 290 mph the previous year.
In a press release, TUM Hyperloop Team Manager Toni Jukic stated that the team is looking to hit a highly ambitious goal this year. “This year we plan to reach at least half the speed of sound, over 600 kilometers per hour (372 mph),” he said. Putting that figure into perspective, Pod IV would have to go 40% faster than its pod last year, hitting 372 mph and decelerating to zero in 0.8 miles.
Ambitious goal aside, this year will likely not be easy for TUM Hyperloop, especially considering that among its competitors is the UNSW Hyperloop team from Australia, which has a pretty unique experience in terms of rapid sustainable transportation. The UNSW has seen success in other innovative transport solutions, with students from the university’s Sunswift team setting a new efficiency record at the World Solar Challenge using a solar racing car that completed a 4,100 km (2,500 mile) journey across Australia in just six days.
In a statement to The Driven, UNSW Hyperloop team manager Harry Zhang noted that the team had to work really hard to make it to SpaceX’s competition. “It was quite grueling because we had to apply to compete, then do several design packages over the summer and then finally get accepted in February to be invited to go to SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California. The people who do compete and make it through the multiple rounds of elimination are quite revered in engineering around the world,” he said.
Another team that TUM Hyperloop would likely need to watch out for is Team Delft from the Netherlands. Delft won the coveted overall best pod award in SpaceX’s first Hyperloop Competition, and it was able to reach the finals last year together with TUM (then called Team WARR) and Team EPFLoop from Switzerland. Unfortunately, Delft experienced major issues in the finals, resulting in the team’s pod reaching speeds of only 88 mph before stalling. With a chance at redemption this year with a new, improved pod, Delft Hyperloop could be returning to the SpaceX Hyperloop Competition with a purpose.
The SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition is scheduled to be held on July 21, 2019 at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA. Similar to last year’s competition, participants for this year’s tournament will be judged on one key metric: top speed.
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Tesla’s six-seat extended wheelbase Model Y L sold out for January 2026
Estimated delivery dates for new Tesla Model Y L orders now extend all the way into February 2026.
The Tesla Model Y L seems to be in high demand in China, with estimated delivery dates for new orders now extending all the way into February 2026.
This suggests that the Model Y L has been officially sold out from the rest of 2025 to January 2026.
Model Y L estimated delivery dates
The Model Y L’s updated delivery dates mark an extension from the vehicle’s previous 4-8 week estimated wait time. A detailed chart shared by Tesla data tracker @Tslachan on X shows the progressions of the Model Y L’s estimated delivery dates since its launch earlier this year.
Following its launch in September, the vehicle was given an initial October 2025 estimated delivery date. The wait times for the vehicle were continually updated over the years, until the middle of November, when the Model Y L had an estimated delivery date of 4-8 weeks. This remained until now, when Tesla China simply listed February 2026 as the estimated delivery date for new Model Y L orders.
Model Y demand in China
Tesla Model Y demand in China seems to be very healthy, even beyond the Model Y L. New delivery dates show the company has already sold out its allocation of the all-electric crossover for 2025. The Model Y has been the most popular vehicle in the world in both of the last two years, outpacing incredibly popular vehicles like the Toyota RAV4. In China, the EV market is substantially more saturated, with more competitors than in any other market.
Tesla has been particularly kind to the Chinese market, as it has launched trim levels for the Model Y in the country that are not available anywhere else, such as the Model Y L. Demand has been strong for the Model Y in China, with the vehicle ranking among the country’s top 5 New Energy Vehicles. Interestingly enough, vehicles that beat the Model Y in volume like the BYD Seagull are notably more affordable. Compared to vehicles that are comparably priced, the Model Y remains a strong seller in China.
Elon Musk
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang commends Tesla’s Elon Musk for early belief
“And when I announced DGX-1, nobody in the world wanted it. I had no purchase orders, not one. Nobody wanted to buy it. Nobody wanted to be part of it, except for Elon.”
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Wednesday and commended Tesla CEO Elon Musk for his early belief in what is now the most valuable company in the world.
Huang and Musk are widely regarded as two of the greatest tech entrepreneurs of the modern era, with the two working in conjunction as NVIDIA’s chips are present in Tesla vehicles, particularly utilized for self-driving technology and data collection.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang regrets not investing more in Elon Musk’s xAI
Both CEOs defied all odds and created companies from virtually nothing. Musk joined Tesla in the early 2000s before the company had even established any plans to build a vehicle. Jensen created NVIDIA in the booth of a Denny’s restaurant, which has been memorialized with a plaque.
On the JRE episode, Rogan asked about Jensen’s relationship with Elon, to which the NVIDIA CEO said that Musk was there when nobody else was:
“I was lucky because I had known Elon Musk, and I helped him build the first computer for Model 3, the Model S, and when he wanted to start working on an autonomous vehicle. I helped him build the computer that went into the Model S AV system, his full self-driving system. We were basically the FSD computer version 1, and so we were already working together.
And when I announced DGX-1, nobody in the world wanted it. I had no purchase orders, not one. Nobody wanted to buy it. Nobody wanted to be part of it, except for Elon.
He goes ‘You know what, I have a company that could really use this.’ I said, Wow, my first customer. And he goes, it’s an AI company, and it’s a nonprofit and and we could really use one of these supercomputers. I boxed one up, I drove it up to San Francisco, and I delivered it to the Elon in 2016.”
The first DGX-1 AI supercomputer was delivered personally to Musk when he was with OpenAI, which provided crucial early compute power for AI research, accelerating breakthroughs in machine learning that underpin modern tools like ChatGPT.
Tesla’s Nvidia purchases could reach $4 billion this year: Musk
The long-term alliance between NVIDIA and Tesla has driven over $2 trillion in the company’s market value since 2016.
Elon Musk
GM CEO Mary Barra says she told Biden to give Tesla and Musk EV credit
“He was crediting me, and I said, ‘Actually, I think a lot of that credit goes to Elon and Tesla…You know me, Andrew. I don’t want to take credit for things.”
General Motors CEO Mary Barra said in a new interview on Wednesday that she told President Joe Biden to credit Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, for the widespread electric vehicle transition.
She said she told Biden this after the former President credited her and GM for leading EV efforts in the United States.
During an interview at the New York Times Dealbook Summit with Andrew Ross Sorkin, Barra said she told Biden that crediting her was essentially a mistake, and that Musk and Tesla should have been explicitly mentioned (via Business Insider):
“He was crediting me, and I said, ‘Actually, I think a lot of that credit goes to Elon and Tesla…You know me, Andrew. I don’t want to take credit for things.”
GM CEO Mary Barra said to Andrew Sorkin at the New York Times Dealbook Summit that she pulled President Biden aside and said Tesla CEO @elonmusk deserved the credit for EVs:
“He was crediting me, and I said, ‘Actually, I think a lot of that credit goes to Elon and Tesla,'” Barra… pic.twitter.com/OHBTG1QfbJ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) December 3, 2025
Back in 2021, President Biden visited GM’s “Factory Zero” plant in Detroit, which was the centerpiece of the company’s massive transition to EVs. The former President went on to discuss the EV industry, and claimed that GM and Barra were the true leaders who caused the change:
“In the auto industry, Detroit is leading the world in electric vehicles. You know how critical it is? Mary, I remember talking to you way back in January about the need for America to lead in electric vehicles. I can remember your dramatic announcement that by 2035, GM would be 100% electric. You changed the whole story, Mary. You did, Mary. You electrified the entire automotive industry. I’m serious. You led, and it matters.”
People were baffled by the President’s decision to highlight GM and Barra, and not Tesla and Musk, who truly started the transition to EVs. GM, Ford, and many other companies only followed in the footsteps of Tesla after it started to take market share from them.
Elon Musk and Tesla try to save legacy automakers from Déjà vu
Musk would eventually go on to talk about Biden’s words later on:
“They have so much power over the White House that they can exclude Tesla from an EV Summit. And, in case the first thing, in case that wasn’t enough, then you have President Biden with Mary Barra at a subsequent event, congratulating Mary for having led the EV revolution.”
In Q4 2021, which was shortly after Biden’s comments, Tesla delivered 300,000 EVs. GM delivered just 26.
Tesla’s six-seat extended wheelbase Model Y L sold out for January 2026
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang commends Tesla’s Elon Musk for early belief
