Featured Image Source: The Boring Company
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, founded The Boring Company with the goal "to solve the problem of soul-destroying traffic" by building an underground network of high-speed transportation tunnels, known as Loop. Musk envisions vehicles transported into the underworld by elevators into layers of underground routes where thousands of electric vehicles will travel at high speeds on electric tracks. The company is now developing a zero-emission autonomous transport system, "To solve the problem of soul-destroying traffic, roads must go 3D, which means either flying cars or tunnels. Unlike flying cars, tunnels are weatherproof, out of sight and won't fall on your head. A large network of tunnels many levels deep would help alleviate congestion in any city, no matter how large it grew (just keep adding levels)," Musk said.
Source: The Boring Company
The Boring Company's first tunnel project is under construction in Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), the $52.5 million project, will be comprised of a Loop system with two 1 mile long tunnels adjacent to each other, that will connect the New Exhibit Hall building to the South and North/Central Hall. Today, Friday, February 14. the company celebrated the break-through of digging to the end of their first tunnel, Las Vegas Convention Center stated:
"Excavation is complete for the first of two tunnels that will comprise Elon Musk’s innovative underground transportation system beneath the LVCC campus. The project is scheduled to debut in January 2021."
Breakthrough! https://t.co/vJ7Jmz2nNb
— The Boring Company (@boringcompany) February 14, 2020
Excavation for the first tunnel that will makeup the high-speed underground transportation system was completed this morning. Over the past 3 months, The Boring Company crews have excavated 40 feet tunnel with a span of nearly a mile long. Now, the they will begin digging the second tunnel. The Loop transportation system will use autonomous electric vehicles, also known as AEV. These vehicles are composed of a modified Tesla Model 3 chassis to transport up to 16 passengers with both sitting and standing room.
Source: The Boring Company
These AEV's will transport passengers inside at high-speeds of up to 155 miles per hour. Typical walk time between those two locations can take up to 15 minutes. The same trip across LVCC's 200-acre campus on board the underground Loop vehicles would take approximately 1 minute. According to officials, the tunnel will be capable of transporting 4,400 people per hour. The transportation system will include 3 passenger stations where people can hitch a ride, all connecting the convention center’s 3.2 million square-foot space with the West Hall that is currently under construction.
Officials expect the LVCC transportation system to be finished and in operation by January 2021, it will be the first time the company tests out their high-speed Loop technology concept in the real world.
About the Author
Evelyn Arevalo
Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.
