Former SpaceX engineers have teamed up together in order to create autonomous railway vehicles. The engineers are forming a new startup called Parallel Systems and have just raised $50 million during its Series A funding.
Former SpaceX Engineers Team Up to Join the Railway Industry
According to the story by Electrek, a number of former SpaceX engineers have teamed up to create a new startup that is aiming to make electric and autonomous railway vehicles in order to revolutionize rail-based freight transport.
The railway business is said to be hard to break into since it is a static oligopoly dominated by just a few giants. They are said to be sitting on their railroad rights, which has allowed them to maximize profits while minimizing the needed investment.
Entering the Railway Industry has Proved Difficult in the Last Few Years
Over the past years, railroads have actually been privatized in North America and these businesses have no problems when it comes to closing smaller railroads.
In fact, they are actually known to often close down smaller railroads when they are unable to make money off of them. Instead, they focus their resources on more profitable routes with longer trains.
Despite all of this, freight trains have still remained as a good transport solution as they are said to be around four times more efficient than using trucks.
Trucks, however, are also expected to become electric and autonomous in the coming years. The goal of this is to close the efficiency gap with trains.
Parallel Systems Raised $50 Million in Series A Funding
A former long-time SpaceX engineer, Matt Soule, has partnered with other former colleagues at Elon Musk's very own space company in order to launch a new startup. The startup is called Parallel Systems and the company aims to develop electric and autonomous vehicles.
Just recently, the company was able to raise $50 million during its Series A funding round and came out of stealth mode with a Fortune article. The main idea behind the company is to create small autonomous electric-powered rail vehicles capable of enabling a different way to use railroads.
How Parallel Systems Aims to Change the Industry
The cargo is expected to be droppable on individual Parallel Systems vehicles and movable even without having to wait for the whole train to be unloaded. Each container can then be moved individually for up to 500 miles or band together in order for them to become more efficient.
This would then allow smaller railroads to be able to reopen and new ones to be built in order to deliver cargo much closer to customers. This is seen to take some of the market directly away from trucks.
As for the Parallel Systems vehicles, they are capable of carrying up to 128,000 pounds, which is about twice as much as the capacity of a semi-truck. To add, the vehicles have a whole range of 500 miles on tracks and are capable of charging in about an hour.
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Written by Urian B.
