Watch Elon Musk's "Boring" Tunnel System Speed Cars along at 130 MPH

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It’s like an underground roller coaster for your car: Musk’s new video demonstrates his vision for an underground tunnel system that will transport cars at high speeds via “skates.” The first network will be constructed under Los Angeles—it’s going to be fun being down there during an earthquake.

…Musk said that there are still important challenges to be overcome for that vision to become a reality. The Boring Company is working on bringing the overall cost of boring the tunnels down while increasing the speed. With better materials and more power, Musk believes that they can increase the speed of the current machines, which are able to dig about 300 feet per week, to up to 1 mile per week. That’s a 17.6x improvement.
 
It is a really nice idea and some day we as a society should do it - I am not convinced the technology is here yet.

I also wonder at the plan to keep people - on their phones or otherwise - from falling down those holes.
 
We've had boring machines for years and years. What's so innovative about this one that it'll be able to bore a mile per week?





 
Being able to dig a hole is not the same as digging a network of ditches.

I agree we have tunneling tech. I don't agree we have tech to do what I saw in the video. Not in a safe (ish) way. Not in a reasonable time. Not at a cost society can afford.

Perhaps I am wrong? Not my field. I would like to be wrong on this. Underground infastructure is the part of a green future.
 
Tunnels are very useful, but this concept is total fail. Why would you want to invest the energy in transporting 3-4K lbs of vehicle, that you are somehow ensuring stays secure and presumably with the engine off, instead of just the people?

Mass transit like subways make a lot more economical sense, and just increase them so that you could park out of the overcrowded city and take the subway everywhere you need to go.
 
This appears to require drivers to take themselves to the side and "park". Given that 5% of the population seems to need 20+ attempts to put their car in a space, I can imagine those 3 point turns on a highway causing mass destruction.

I guess by then it may be automated though....
 
Tunnels are very useful, but this concept is total fail. Why would you want to invest the energy in transporting 3-4K lbs of vehicle, that you are somehow ensuring stays secure and presumably with the engine off, instead of just the people?

Mass transit like subways make a lot more economical sense, and just increase them so that you could park out of the overcrowded city and take the subway everywhere you need to go.

Ever see the movie singles? People (me included) love their cars.
 
Tunnels are very useful, but this concept is total fail. Why would you want to invest the energy in transporting 3-4K lbs of vehicle, that you are somehow ensuring stays secure and presumably with the engine off, instead of just the people?

Mass transit like subways make a lot more economical sense, and just increase them so that you could park out of the overcrowded city and take the subway everywhere you need to go.

I don't see this being useful for short distances.
However, this would be great for long distance travel, like between cities.
An 8 hour drive can be tiring, but sitting/napping in your car overnight while it whips along at 130MPH? Much better than dealing with the airport for short/medium trips.

2.5 hours squeezed into a cramped seat on a plane, plus a couple more hours to deal with the airport/security, or 8 hours napping or playing games in your car. I think I'd prefer the later.
Plus I wouldn't need to deal with a rental car when I got there. Even better if you have the family with you, as you don't need to buy multiple seats like on a plane.
 
It’s like an underground roller coaster for your car: Musk’s new video demonstrates his vision for an underground tunnel system that will transport cars at high speeds via “skates.” The first network will be constructed under Los Angeles—it’s going to be fun being down there during an earthquake.

…Musk said that there are still important challenges to be overcome for that vision to become a reality. The Boring Company is working on bringing the overall cost of boring the tunnels down while increasing the speed. With better materials and more power, Musk believes that they can increase the speed of the current machines, which are able to dig about 300 feet per week, to up to 1 mile per week. That’s a 17.6x improvement.

depending on how deep it is and how much bed rock is above it, it'll probably be safer in that tunnel then above ground. the soil there is pretty much sand.


I don't see this being useful for short distances.
However, this would be great for long distance travel, like between cities.
An 8 hour drive can be tiring, but sitting/napping in your car overnight while it whips along at 130MPH? Much better than dealing with the airport for short/medium trips.

2.5 hours squeezed into a cramped seat on a plane, plus a couple more hours to deal with the airport/security, or 8 hours napping or playing games in your car. I think I'd prefer the later.
Plus I wouldn't need to deal with a rental car when I got there. Even better if you have the family with you, as you don't need to buy multiple seats like on a plane.

in a city like LA it's very useful, but the concept has a flaw in that it's not really an expandable option. once you reach the peak amount of cars in every tunnel you're right back to square one because in a city like LA it'll happen. as far as long distance drives that's already being solved with autonomous cars which is a much cheaper option.
 
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I don't see this being useful for short distances.
However, this would be great for long distance travel, like between cities.
An 8 hour drive can be tiring, but sitting/napping in your car overnight while it whips along at 130MPH? Much better than dealing with the airport for short/medium trips.

2.5 hours squeezed into a cramped seat on a plane, plus a couple more hours to deal with the airport/security, or 8 hours napping or playing games in your car. I think I'd prefer the later.
Plus I wouldn't need to deal with a rental car when I got there. Even better if you have the family with you, as you don't need to buy multiple seats like on a plane.
Yes, but again think of the inefficiency.

Why are flights cramped in the first place? Why don't you have a 600 pound giant reclining chair with massage features and a 30" personal TV in front of you... weight matters. The idea that its efficient to figure out how to somehow strap down non-standardized vehicles securely for high speed transport, and to move all that thousands of pounds mass and fight all that aerodynamic drag, to transport 150lbs of flesh doesn't make sense.

High speed rail, high aerodynamic, and moving no more mass than is necessary makes far more sense, and have electric rental vehicles available on the other end (perhaps distributed via a "vending machine" as was shown in that previous post) or uber personal transport where public transport options aren't viable.

I'm starting to think that Musk doesn't worry about reality, and is just into selling ideas now. The idea just has to be appealing, even if its not realistic and has no reasonable deadline. He's like the Chris Roberts of the tech world, and is already accepting preorders from various government sources I'm sure.
 
Yes, but again think of the inefficiency.

Why are flights cramped in the first place? Why don't you have a 600 pound giant reclining chair with massage features and a 30" personal TV in front of you... weight matters. The idea that its efficient to figure out how to somehow strap down non-standardized vehicles securely for high speed transport, and to move all that thousands of pounds mass and fight all that aerodynamic drag, to transport 150lbs of flesh doesn't make sense.

High speed rail, high aerodynamic, and moving no more mass than is necessary makes far more sense, and have electric rental vehicles available on the other end (perhaps distributed via a "vending machine" as was shown in that previous post) or uber personal transport where public transport options aren't viable.

I'm starting to think that Musk doesn't worry about reality, and is just into selling ideas now. The idea just has to be appealing, even if its not realistic and has no reasonable deadline. He's like the Chris Roberts of the tech world, and is already accepting preorders from various government sources I'm sure.

i agree his idea's are a bit out there but at least he puts his money where his mouth is with a lot of them. although most of his concepts he's come up with aren't really "new" most of them existed in many different futuristic movies like this tunnel system and the hyperloop train idea.
 
i agree his idea's are a bit out there but at least he puts his money where his mouth is with a lot of them. although most of his concepts he's come up with aren't really "new" most of them existed in many different futuristic movies like this tunnel system and the hyperloop train idea.
I don't think he's putting his own money down anymore than Chris Roberts. He's taking your "crowdfunding" money and investing part of it in outlandish programs that sound cool, but aren't viable, and aren't likely to ever be completed.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-20150531-story.html

$4.6 billion in tax dollars for Ellon's stuff, and you know he's skimming off the top to maintain his lavish lifestyle, which even though he has millions in expenses a month ($70 million private jets, own five mansions in Bel Air alone, etc) he's still amassed $15 billion+ net worth. Heck, if you doubt his lifestyle, remember how even Johnny Depp went bankrupt despite making so many hundreds of millions over his career (spends over $30K a month just on wine alone)... well, he's best friends with Depp, and its probably what caused Depp to go bankrupt trying to keep pace with Musk.
"He definitely goes where there is government money," said Dan Dolev, an analyst at Jefferies Equity Research. "That's a great strategy, but the government will cut you off one day."
So, no, I don't think he's putting his money where his mouth is; he's using his mouth to play with your money. Big difference.
 
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Tunnels are great until the first vehicle spontaneously combusts inside of one.
 
Tunnels are very useful, but this concept is total fail. Why would you want to invest the energy in transporting 3-4K lbs of vehicle, that you are somehow ensuring stays secure and presumably with the engine off, instead of just the people?

this guy gets it
 
Unfortunately, this along with his other traffic avoiding ideas will not be available in his lifetime. Since when did the uber rich stop tearing around in private helicopters anyway?
 
Reality..this only works if cars are nearly 100% self driving. People are stupid and someone will fuck this up.
 
as far as long distance drives that's already being solved with autonomous cars which is a much cheaper option.

Except autonomous cars don't drive at 130 MPH.

However, I'd love to have a fully autonomous car, where I can go to sleep at night and wake up 600 miles away the following morning.
 
in a city like LA it's very useful, but the concept has a flaw in that it's not really an expandable option. once you reach the peak amount of cars in every tunnel you're right back to square one because in a city like LA it'll happen. as far as long distance drives that's already being solved with autonomous cars which is a much cheaper option.
Not sure putting hundreds of miles of underground tunnels in a earthquake prone area is the best idea, but then again I'm not a billionaire so what do I know.
Except autonomous cars don't drive at 130 MPH.

However, I'd love to have a fully autonomous car, where I can go to sleep at night and wake up 600 miles away the following morning.
https://www.amtrak.com/auto-train
 
Amtrak is kinda nice.

Amtrak is also expensive and regularly 5 or more hours behind schedule.
 
Tunnels are very useful, but this concept is total fail. Why would you want to invest the energy in transporting 3-4K lbs of vehicle, that you are somehow ensuring stays secure and presumably with the engine off, instead of just the people?

Mass transit like subways make a lot more economical sense, and just increase them so that you could park out of the overcrowded city and take the subway everywhere you need to go.

I guess you never tried mass transit lol. You need a car to go to the train, then you have to hang out with all sorts of weirdos and drug addicts while you're waiting for the train. Then if you travel longer distance, you no longer have your car with you so you have to resort again to public transport - usually a taxi that will cost an arm and a leg.

This concept is genius because it's a compromise between the efficiency and safety of rail traffic but lets you keep your car with you. And yes, I know you can take your car even to current trains but if anyone has seen how time consuming, clumsy and accident prone it is to put your car to a car transport carriage, you're not very likely to try it.

A 2000 dollar dent in your car after the train trip is not something people take lightly.
 
I don't think he's putting his own money down anymore than Chris Roberts. He's taking your "crowdfunding" money and investing part of it in outlandish programs that sound cool, but aren't viable, and aren't likely to ever be completed.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-20150531-story.html

$4.6 billion in tax dollars for Ellon's stuff, and you know he's skimming off the top to maintain his lavish lifestyle, which even though he has millions in expenses a month ($70 million private jets, own five mansions in Bel Air alone, etc) he's still amassed $15 billion+ net worth. Heck, if you doubt his lifestyle, remember how even Johnny Depp went bankrupt despite making so many hundreds of millions over his career (spends over $30K a month just on wine alone)... well, he's best friends with Depp, and its probably what caused Depp to go bankrupt trying to keep pace with Musk.

So, no, I don't think he's putting his money where his mouth is; he's using his mouth to play with your money. Big difference.


That's a load of bullshit.


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-is-no-corporate-welfare-queen-2015-06-03

The first $500 million is the amount of government financing awarded to build Tesla’s factory in Fremont, Calif. But that’s already repaid. Tesla paid early to keep the Obama administration from exercising warrants, designed to protect the government against a default, that would have let Uncle Sam snag Tesla stock at $7.53 a share. Which squeaks in a hair under the $250 stock price now. The feds simply didn’t spend a half-billion on Tesla.

We should all fund such boondoggles.

The next $1.3 billion represents tax incentives from the state of Nevada to build Tesla’s Gigafactory for advanced batteries. Little or none of that went directly into Tesla’s pocket. Most of it represents the state taking a sharp discount on future tax revenue from Tesla-related activity, including a projected 6,000-plus jobs. Tesla will still finance the $5 billion Gigafactory privately, using $2 billion of its own and more money from partners including Panasonic.

The next $750 million is the amount state and local governments are paying to build a solar-panel factory for SolarCity in Buffalo, N.Y., for which SolarCity will pay nominal rent. That’s obviously useful to Solar City, but since the plant will belong to the government, calling the deal a $750 million grant is simply wrong. The subsidy is the much smaller avoided cost of private financing, and even that aid depends on SolarCity hitting hiring milestones.

The article goes on the benefits of backing his ventures, like all the job creation occurring, for example the Buffalo plant will single-handedly replace nearly 1/3 of all the jobs lost in the area in the past 10 years.
 
So a guy who sells cars wants to build a subway for cars? Got it.

A) he doesn't need the money, he's insanely rich as it is. If you read his biography it's more about him liking to solve problems.

B) Obviously he's the one that would build the tunnels =P
 
I don't think he's putting his own money down anymore than Chris Roberts. He's taking your "crowdfunding" money and investing part of it in outlandish programs that sound cool, but aren't viable, and aren't likely to ever be completed.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-20150531-story.html

$4.6 billion in tax dollars for Ellon's stuff, and you know he's skimming off the top to maintain his lavish lifestyle, which even though he has millions in expenses a month ($70 million private jets, own five mansions in Bel Air alone, etc) he's still amassed $15 billion+ net worth. Heck, if you doubt his lifestyle, remember how even Johnny Depp went bankrupt despite making so many hundreds of millions over his career (spends over $30K a month just on wine alone)... well, he's best friends with Depp, and its probably what caused Depp to go bankrupt trying to keep pace with Musk.

So, no, I don't think he's putting his money where his mouth is; he's using his mouth to play with your money. Big difference.


He owns 36,175,151 shares of tesla and who knows what his equity stake in SpaceX is worth. So if you think having $11B at risk in a company isn't "playing with your own money", you must be worth a fucking shitload of money.
 
He owns 36,175,151 shares of tesla and who knows what his equity stake in SpaceX is worth. So if you think having $11B at risk in a company isn't "playing with your own money", you must be worth a fucking shitload of money.
I said clearly what I think, backed up by the article that explains it in detail.

He jumps into implausible startups based on lofty promises and that risk is mitigated by nearly $5 billion in your tax dollars.

Thus the risk isn't on him, its not his money, and if it fails you're just out of your tax dollars (of which he's deducted his expenses and salary).
A) he doesn't need the money, he's insanely rich as it is. If you read his biography it's more about him liking to solve problems.
*facepalm*

He's insanely rich because he does this kind of thing... that's how he keeps getting richer. It'd be like an obese person saying they don't need food, because they are already so fat... but that's how they get and stay fat, by eating a ton of food, lol!
 
Lots of skepticism here, but I'm going to bet on the billionaire. Every time this guy does anything it's gold. People doubt him, but then years later he proves them all wrong with success.

I feel that Musk is the most forward thinking entrepreneur who's going to pave the way to a new, better civilization.
 
This is similar to an idea I had, except mine wouldn't cost a bloody fortune, you simply lose a couple lanes of freeway space, or a single lane along massive corridors, change them into slot car tracks like the video, and commuting for those who are use the system is negligible, and best of all, unlike any other form of mass transit you depart with your vehicle so you can then do any one of the near infinite other destinations when you reach your final ending point without having to worry about the issue of mass further mass transit transfers.

Oh and best of all, wouldn't require building a huge tunnel system under a city as the infrastructure for where to go is basically already there. And tunnels are not cheap.

Of course when I talk about it, I'm just some crazy random person on the internet, and not Elon Musk :D
 
Oh.. and Simpson's did it?? :D

Stonecutter_tunnel.png
 
I said clearly what I think, backed up by the article that explains it in detail.

He jumps into implausible startups based on lofty promises and that risk is mitigated by nearly $5 billion in your tax dollars.

Thus the risk isn't on him, its not his money, and if it fails you're just out of your tax dollars (of which he's deducted his expenses and salary).

*facepalm*

He's insanely rich because he does this kind of thing... that's how he keeps getting richer. It'd be like an obese person saying they don't need food, because they are already so fat... but that's how they get and stay fat, by eating a ton of food, lol!

LOL thanks for cutting off my part B. I was being sarcastic so you kind of ruin it when you delete the punchline.

As far as what you're saying about "risk" you clearly don't work in the financial industry or else you'd understand that BILLIONS of his dollars are tied up in a company that, if it goes bankrupt, will be worth zero. Just because he does stuff like Tesla that gets subsidies doesn't mean it's impossible for him to go bankrupt.
 
As much as I like Musk, its ideas like these that I feel should stay in the imaginations of movie producers and cartoons. Minority report has done something similar and I am sure that we can find refrences to underground tunnels speeding a population at faster than "aboveground" speeds. The cost is a huge limiting factor. Musk should target lessining the cost of digging below ground -FIRST. Then many ideas as to what to do with a long cheap hole that stretch's for as many miles as possible will come along. Transportation, mining, dwellings - I am reminded of the StarTrek episode about the horta. Animal created holes through solid rock as easily as we move through air. Made mining really easy. Since musk likes using names already out, Tesla for example, he could call his new mining system "The Horta". Then go on and connect NewYork to SanFrancisco underground.
 
As much as I like Musk, its ideas like these that I feel should stay in the imaginations of movie producers and cartoons.

You mean like 300 mile range EVs, and rockets that can land themselves on barges?

We need people like Musk that able to think outside the box, even if every idea doesn't pan out.

He has shown that he is both a visionary and practical problem solver, that is actually moving industries forward with a leap.
 
You mean like 300 mile range EVs, and rockets that can land themselves on barges?

We need people like Musk that able to think outside the box, even if every idea doesn't pan out.

He has shown that he is both a visionary and practical problem solver, that is actually moving industries forward with a leap.


Don't forget the solar roofs and home battery!
 
I guess you never tried mass transit lol. You need a car to go to the train, then you have to hang out with all sorts of weirdos and drug addicts while you're waiting for the train. Then if you travel longer distance, you no longer have your car with you so you have to resort again to public transport - usually a taxi that will cost an arm and a leg.

This concept is genius because it's a compromise between the efficiency and safety of rail traffic but lets you keep your car with you. And yes, I know you can take your car even to current trains but if anyone has seen how time consuming, clumsy and accident prone it is to put your car to a car transport carriage, you're not very likely to try it.

A 2000 dollar dent in your car after the train trip is not something people take lightly.

This is similar to an idea I had, except mine wouldn't cost a bloody fortune, you simply lose a couple lanes of freeway space, or a single lane along massive corridors, change them into slot car tracks like the video, and commuting for those who are use the system is negligible, and best of all, unlike any other form of mass transit you depart with your vehicle so you can then do any one of the near infinite other destinations when you reach your final ending point without having to worry about the issue of mass further mass transit transfers.

Oh and best of all, wouldn't require building a huge tunnel system under a city as the infrastructure for where to go is basically already there. And tunnels are not cheap.

Of course when I talk about it, I'm just some crazy random person on the internet, and not Elon Musk :D

I could agree more with you guys. No one wants to ride the bus, because no one wants to deal with other people. Everyone wants their little bubble where they can sit and relax while taking a trip and enjoy the ride. I've thought about how you could try to do something similar with something like a storage container, where you get into it and it has windows, but you have your own private space that only you have access to. The issue always comes back to needing transportation once you reach your destination, because anything mass transit usually doesn't take you to an exact location. Your car is ideal because it allows you to complete the trip from your home to the loading point, and from the unloading point to your destination. Let's say you were trying to make a trip to IKEA for a desk. You hop in your car at your home, drive to the connecting point, get your ticket with your destination and simply drive your car onto a platform. That travels twice the speed you could on a freeway, and likely 4x faster than you would be able to drive across town. Your slot moves you off the main line into a exit point, and you drive to the store. You buy said items and load them into your car, and reverse the process. No need to attempt to move said item through multiple forms of mass transit, no need to wait for a delivery to show up to your home, and you don't need to sit with total strangers and can have all of the comforts of your car the entire time. All of this is done on your schedule because you don't have to figure out timing for when mass transit runs, and make sure you're at the stop when your ride arrives. Even if it would end up costing more in the long run to move cars around, I think a lot of people would opt for that and actually use a system that allows it.
 
I here by claim the 'prior art' to the idea of vending machines and media entertainment kiosks attached to mass transportation devices that move passengers with their cars. Think about drive-in theaters except you have your private theater and vending machine next to the window.
 
I here by claim the 'prior art' to the idea of vending machines and media entertainment kiosks attached to mass transportation devices that move passengers with their cars. Think about drive-in theaters except you have your private theater and vending machine next to the window.
If you can provide a method of the actual execution of the said idea (a drawing and written details of all features in your invention, essentially an embodiment), then you can rightly claim that "prior art"

Claiming you have an idea, publically disclose that idea, is not enough to be prior art.

Also, your wording is ambiguous enough that it's to argue out of your claim.

EG "their cars", do you mean the passengers or the mass transportation device being the "car"

Plus, your prior art matches closely to that of ferries that often ferry people and their cars across from Ireland/UK to UK/France, and those are much more effective prior arts (since they were in use for a LONG time) than a simple claim to do such.
 
If you can provide a method of the actual execution of the said idea (a drawing and written details of all features in your invention, essentially an embodiment), then you can rightly claim that "prior art"

Claiming you have an idea, publically disclose that idea, is not enough to be prior art.

Also, your wording is ambiguous enough that it's to argue out of your claim.

EG "their cars", do you mean the passengers or the mass transportation device being the "car"

Plus, your prior art matches closely to that of ferries that often ferry people and their cars across from Ireland/UK to UK/France, and those are much more effective prior arts (since they were in use for a LONG time) than a simple claim to do such.

Not any more ambiguous as some software patents or having a square rounded shape patented as a phone lol.

Anyway, here you go: :D

14me6xk.png


And I know publicly disclosing it does not mean a patent application - however nobody else can claim THEY invented it first either, if it's publizised.
 
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