Elon Musk Has Finally Confirmed What the Boring Tunnels He’s Making Are For – Futurism

In BriefWe now have an idea of just what Elon Musk's Boring Company isgoing to be for. Yes, it's to solve traffic, but it looks like itisn't meant just to be your usual tunnel for cars. In a new updatetoday, the company asserts that it's actually building a tunnelthat can also run the Hyperloop. Boring Through Traffic

Serial entrepreneur Elon Musk is ready to conquer space, roads, roofs, and now even tunnels. What started out as a simple musing on Twitter has become a full-blown startup aptly named The Boring Company. Today (May 17), the company added a FAQ pageto their website,which offers an abundance of newinformation about their specific goals.

The most notable announcement that was finally confirmed? The Hyperloop.

The FAQ explains that Musksinitial inspiration was:to solve the problem of soul-destroying traffic. The solution is to go three-dimensional, which could be done using flying cars an idea Musk doesnt think is very viable or to go underground. The other option is to go down and build tunnels, the website states, as these provide a fair amount of perks, including weatherproofing and the practically limitless layers of tunnels that could be builtmuch better than malfunctioning cars potentially plummeting from the sky.

But there is a problem. First, theres the cost. Second, existing tunnels cant support the Hyperloop pods. Musks new company is out to fix this.

Currently, tunnels are really expensive to dig, with some projects costing as much as $1 billion per mile. In order to make a tunnel network feasible, tunneling costs must be reduced by a factor of more than 10, explains the new FAQ.To make the tunnel more cost effective and efficient, its diameter is going to be less than 4 meters (14 feet) whereas normal tunnels (one-lane road tunnels) are usually about 8.5 meters (28 feet) in diameter. To do this, Musks tunnel company would use what it calls an electric sled.

Musks Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) or Godot is ready to start digging the first among these network of tunnels. However, as the TBM isnt even as fast as a snail yet, Musk is determined to find ways to make tunnel digging faster to defeat the snail in a race by increasing the TBMs speed, which will also cut down costs.

So, theres now a place to start digging this tunnel under Los Angeles and a machine to do it. But what is this tunnel really meant for? At first, many thought Musks tunnels would be like every other tunnel except they would be longer and could potentially connect LAX to Culver City, Santa Monica, Westwood and Sherman Oaks, as Musk said in an Instagram post.

However, as mentioned above, more detailshave come to light.

Since the companys introduction, many (including Futurism) have speculated that the tunnels true purpose was to work in tandem with the Hyperloop.This is the real clincher here. It seems like The Boring Company isnt just going to be for cars. The electric skate can transport automobiles, goods, and/or people. And if one adds a vacuum shell, it is now a Hyperloop Pod which can travel at 600+ miles per hour, the site explains.

The Hyperloop is another idea from Musk that is set to revolutionize transportation. It promises to connect individuals around the globe, making long-distance travel both speedy and remarkably affordable.

Initially discussed in 2013, the transport system would use a propulsion based on electromagnetism that could propel pods forward in vacuum-sealed steel tunnel atunprecedented speeds.

Cities in Europe, America, and the Middle East have expressed interest in adopting their own Hyperloop tracks, and study groups are at work making the concept a reality.While he doesnt have a company working directly on Hyperloop technology, Musk has been behind several initiatives to turn it into a reality. Now, with The Boring Company, Musk is building a platform to launch and test the various Hyperloop efforts he helped put into motion.

See the article here:
Elon Musk Has Finally Confirmed What the Boring Tunnels He's Making Are For - Futurism