[Elon Musk] Boring Loops

[Isgrimnur]

WaPo

For Elon Musk’s very difficult year, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

Specifically, it’s a 1.14-mile tunnel the inventor and beleaguered CEO of Tesla Motors says is a first step in solving “soul-destroying” urban traffic. In 2016, Musk — already busy running two high-profile companies — founded a construction firm called the Boring Company to tackle gridlock by drilling underground. Some thought it was a joke. Two years of big promises and $40 million later, his just-in-time innovation machine delivered a functioning test tunnel late Tuesday.

What’s it like to ride through Elon’s tunnel? Bumpy, but that’s all part of the ride on a Musk enterprise.

I had the chance to zip through in a Tesla Model X at a launch event that was part Musk pep rally and part amusement park ride. The tunnel runs about 40 feet underneath a road alongside the headquarters of SpaceX, another Musk venture located in this Los Angeles suburb. With an inner diameter of just 12 feet, the tunnel is smaller than most subway systems and just wide enough to fit a single car, which makes its way down to the tunnel through an elevator.
...
Our Tesla had been modified with an additional set of alignment wheels — sticking out in front like a pair of ears. Those lined up with the edges of the tunnel, transforming the SUV into a kind of rail-guided train. It’s similar to running your car through an automated carwash, but much faster.
...
The ride was turbulent. The car jostled with many bumps in the concrete along the bottom of the tunnel, even though our top speed reached just 49 miles per hour. (The proximity to the tunnel walls made it seem like we were going faster.) It wasn’t rocky enough to lose your lunch, but it wasn’t an experience you’d tolerate from a public subway service.

In a press briefing, Musk said Boring had run out of time to smooth out the test tunnel’s concrete base, which caused the bumpy ride. (Musk had originally promised to open the test tunnel last week.) Once Boring figures out how to efficiently smooth the concrete, Musk said cars could go through the tunnel at up to 150 miles per hour.
...
Musk also has his eye on one other use for Boring technology: digging around Mars, once his SpaceX firm is able to provide travel to the planet. “This is all a secret plot to build Mars technology,” he joked.

[Alefroth]

Can you imagine having car trouble in the middle of a long 12ft diameter tunnel? Talk about claustrophobia.

[LawBeefaroni]

Apparently the shwoing was a bust and Musk was making all kinds of excuses.


'Like Riding on a Dirt Road': First Reviews of Elon Musk's Underground Tunnel Are Disappointing

Visionary Brain Genius Elon Musk Has Invented The World's Worst And Most Expensive Subway

Seriously, Elon Musk? Are You Kidding Me With This Tunnel? What Is This?

[El Guapo]

I'm having a hard time how this could even conceptually work on a large scale. You can't have individual tunnels for each car, obviously. So...would these basically be one-way tunnels in which you could go somewhat faster by attaching weird custom wheels to your car?

Or is the idea for this to be long-range tunnels, so like there would be one way tunnels in each direction connecting (say) LA and SF, so that you could drive 150 mph between the two. Even then...what happens when one car breaks down and clogs the tunnel, or some asshole is only driving 90 MPH?

[Isgrimnur]

I'm sure it will be Tesla-only to start. Wouldn't want the proletariat clogging your tunnel with their ICE cars.

[Jeff V]

Some day it will possible for cars in metro areas to have mandatory driverless mode where they concede control to a Watson-like supercomputer that can completely manage traffic flow in the most efficient manner. I think we are much closer to this as a solution than we are evolving into molemen.

[Isgrimnur]

Some day it will possible for cars in metro areas to have mandatory driverless mode where they concede control to a Watson-like supercomputer that can completely manage traffic flow in the most efficient manner. I think we are much closer to this as a solution than we are evolving into molemen.

Disappointed that you won't get to fulfill your destiny as the Underminer?

[El Guapo]

I'm sure it will be Tesla-only to start. Wouldn't want the proletariat clogging your tunnel with their ICE cars.

I guess I could see a system where you buy a ticket and they provide a special-tunnel car for you to drive your long-distance destination.

But it's hard to see how this could ultimately provide an advantage over, say, high-speed rail (above or below ground).

[Jeff V]

Disappointed that you won't get to fulfill your destiny as the Underminer?

Nah, I became disillusioned in my youth after an entire summer digging a pit in the back yard didn't even get me a little bit close to China.

[Jeff V]

I'm sure it will be Tesla-only to start. Wouldn't want the proletariat clogging your tunnel with their ICE cars.

I guess I could see a system where you buy a ticket and they provide a special-tunnel car for you to drive your long-distance destination.

But it's hard to see how this could ultimately provide an advantage over, say, high-speed rail (above or below ground).

Subways are expensive to maintain and require high density population to keep it financially feasible. Something like this, the cost per use would probably have to be comparable to renting a private plane to fly you from one end of a metro area to the other end.

[Kraken]

His original concept would have had sleds moving through the tunnels. Cars would descend from street level onto a sidelined sled that would then merge into the traffic stream. The motive power would come from a track in the tunnel, like a car wash has. Obviously, those tunnels would have to be more than 12' in diameter and the acceleration/deceleration aspect would need some finagling. Plus, you'd need those access elevators at regular intervals along both sides of major roads.

This just demonstrates that his boring machine works. Scaling it up to a practical transportation system would take a lot more doing. It would be a huge infrastructure project, and the end result would be pretty cool.

[naednek]

wish they would focus on teleportation instead

[LawBeefaroni]

I'm having a hard time how this could even conceptually work on a large scale. You can't have individual tunnels for each car, obviously. So...would these basically be one-way tunnels in which you could go somewhat faster by attaching weird custom wheels to your car?

Or is the idea for this to be long-range tunnels, so like there would be one way tunnels in each direction connecting (say) LA and SF, so that you could drive 150 mph between the two. Even then...what happens when one car breaks down and clogs the tunnel, or some asshole is only driving 90 MPH?

The promise is/was autonomous 20 passenger vehicles that world shoot down the tunnel at 150mph. Obviously they underdelivered.

The promise:



At least that's how they're securing bids.

[Jaymann]

wish they would focus on teleportation instead

You do know that the person who arrives at the other end is just a copy of you, not actually you.

[El Guapo]

I'm having a hard time how this could even conceptually work on a large scale. You can't have individual tunnels for each car, obviously. So...would these basically be one-way tunnels in which you could go somewhat faster by attaching weird custom wheels to your car?

Or is the idea for this to be long-range tunnels, so like there would be one way tunnels in each direction connecting (say) LA and SF, so that you could drive 150 mph between the two. Even then...what happens when one car breaks down and clogs the tunnel, or some asshole is only driving 90 MPH?

The promise is/was autonomous 20 passenger vehicles that world shoot down the tunnel at 150mph. Obviously they underdelivered.

The promise:



At least that's how they're securing bids.

So are they still aiming to get there, not just to these one car tunnels that they were just showing off? Seems like they have to, since that was the basis for their Chicago bid, right?

[Tao]

wish they would focus on teleportation instead

You do know that the person who arrives at the other end is just a copy of you, not actually you.

Possibly just semantics but it's not strictly a copy as that could denote an original state and a new state co-existing. Rather the old state is "erased" as the new state is created. This to me has fantastic implications. Would you need to file for a divorce anymore? If the original you no longer exists is the new you bound to previous agreements bound by law? If I commit a crime just before I "teleport" can I be charged upon arrival; wasn't me .

[Jaymann]

But the "old stare" is not required to be erased. It can be kept as a backup in case things go badly...

[Redfive]

I dunno. I’m pretty convinced that the guy is a visionary like Tesla and his ideas should be supported. Everyone fails. Hopefully he will continue to iterate until he has a workable proof of concept.

We need these kind of people to push us forward and I find his ideas refreshing in an #omgwelandedonthemooninthesixties world.

[Kraken]

What I like about Musk is that his projects are visionary, and meant to solve serious problems. Even if most of them are zany and unworkable, just one or two big hits -- like jumpstarting the EV industry or establishing a colony on Mars -- will improve humanity's future. As he said himself, if he only wanted to make money he'd just start another internet company. Building rockets is like the worst money-making idea ever.

I guess he's kind of a dick in person, but I don't think it's a stretch to lump him in with eccentric geniuses like Tesla or Howard Hughes.

[morlac]

Yes, he has that Mad Genius quality. Not uncommon for visionaries like him. I have seen him in interviews mentioning his intellect is somewhat of a curse as he can't turn it off. It's akin to having a stressful situation that you can't stop over analyzing, even as you are lying in bed exhausted. Now imagine it is always like that 100% of the day. Just firing on all cylinders full tilt. Both Einstein and Tesla would meditate and that is where some of their best ideas sprung from. I like to imagine they could cut the noise down long enough to focus and hit that Eureka moment while in these states.
The brain is absolutely fascinating.

[El Guapo]

What I like about Musk is that his projects are visionary, and meant to solve serious problems. Even if most of them are zany and unworkable, just one or two big hits -- like jumpstarting the EV industry or establishing a colony on Mars -- will improve humanity's future. As he said himself, if he only wanted to make money he'd just start another internet company. Building rockets is like the worst money-making idea ever.

I guess he's kind of a dick in person, but I don't think it's a stretch to lump him in with eccentric geniuses like Tesla or Howard Hughes.

I think it's a little early to lump him in with Tesla. Maybe Hughes. But like, let's give it a few years and see how all this stuff pans out. It's not even certain whether Tesla will ultimately make it, let alone more edgy things like this underground tunnel system.

Though I'm watching Star Trek Discovery now, and a captain on the show lists Elon Musk among humanity's great inventors...so I guess that indicates that things will pan out well for him.

[Kraken]

Yeah, he's still young. We probably haven't seen 25% of what he will undertake if he lives a full lifespan (and doesn't self-destruct, as gifted people are wont to do). If even 10% of his endeavors succeed, it will be a helluva legacy.

He has said that he intends to die on Mars...just not on impact. He's probably still got 30-40 years to pull that off. I wouldn't bet against him.

[El Guapo]

Yeah, he's still young. We probably haven't seen 25% of what he will undertake if he lives a full lifespan (and doesn't self-destruct, as gifted people are wont to do). If even 10% of his endeavors succeed, it will be a helluva legacy.

He has said that he intends to die on Mars...just not on impact. He's probably still got 30-40 years to pull that off. I wouldn't bet against him.

I just wonder how much of his story is just marketing.

[LawBeefaroni]

He's way too conceited, rapey and dickish for me to idolize him or even call him a inspirational. He's ambitious, smart, and hard-working, to his credit. But he's not a great man.

So are they still aiming to get there, not just to these one car tunnels that they were just showing off? Seems like they have to, since that was the basis for their Chicago bid, right?

Correct. It's not over, they just disappointed big-time at this unveiling.

I'm not expecting a tunnel ride to O'Hare before my kid hits college. Was high school.