Hyperloop Technologies Inc. is applying for tax incentives worth an estimated $9 million to build testing facilities for the company’s high-speed transportation platform in North Las Vegas.
The Los Angeles-based company, vying to build frictionless, high-speed pods that can transport people and goods, expects to invest more than $121 million in the North Las Vegas projects.
In what state officials applauded as a significant economic win for Nevada, Hyperloop Technologies announced in December that it would build a test track. at Apex Industrial Park in North Las Vegas.
The Hyperloop idea was born out of a conceptual design floated in 2013 by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has called the levitating pods a mix between a Concorde supersonic passenger jet, a rail gun and an air hockey table.
“I think it helps solidify Nevada’s brand as a place where really innovative technology is taking place and where the future of transportation is happening,” said Steve Hill, the governor’s chief economic development officer. “It’s a special opportunity.”
Since its December announcement, the company has expanded its plans at Apex to include a full-scale development site, known as the Hyperloop Safety, Test and Development Loop, or the DevLoop.
According to Hyperloop Technologies’ tax incentive application, that project will include a 2-mile track to demonstrate a full-scale Hyperloop system. The levitating pods, the company says, will be able to travel at more than 680 miles per hour by being in a propelled in an enclosed, low-pressure tube. The company expects this track to be operational at the end of 2016. Before then, the company plans to test on a smaller open-air track its building at Apex.
The company’s work at Apex is expected to create 89 full-time jobs and grow to 174 by the 10th year. In addition to the estimated $9 million in tax abatements, the company applied for an additional tax credit, tied to employment, that is worth up to $750,000.
The tax incentive package is expected to be approved at a meeting of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development on Friday.
Hyperloop Technologies, which is led by Rob Lloyd, a former president of Cisco, is one of two companies competing to build the transportation system. The other firm is building a test track in Quay Valley, north of Bakersfield in California’s Central Valley. Several university teams are also working on designs for pods.
“It’s a pretty amazing design and product,” Hill said in an interview Tuesday. “We’re thrilled it’s going to be here.”