Elon Musk’s Boring Company Update: What Exactly Is Going On?
Did you miss this informative Boring Co session? Having a slow start of the week? If you have an hour to waste, then check out what Elon Musk is saying.
Much of the focus of the presentation was to assure the public that the Boring Company’s efforts would not be disruptive to the public or heavily stress the city’s existing highway systems. While the company has been best known for its hat and flamethrower sales, its most daunting challenge is courting public opinion for its plans to upgrade LA’s transport infrastructure.
Musk outlined his vision in a forum detailing the Boring Co. vision on Thursday night in Los Angeles. He also used the opportunity to criticize other tech companies’ solutions for solving big city traffic problems, including Uber Elevate, which is working on a drone-like, all-electric flying car concept.
“Compared to a flying car, you don’t have to worry about bad weather, you can’t see it, hear it feel it, you’re not dividing communities with lanes and we think we can make this really fun,” Musk said.
Elon Musk has big dreams for the future of mass transit in Los Angeles.
His vision? You may have heard about this already. A “personalized mass transit” system that would shuttle up to 16 passengers through tunnels underneath Los Angeles. His vision includes an 11-mile tunnel that would shuttle passengers between downtown LA to Los Angeles International Airport in eight minutes. His projected fare: only $1 per person. Musk also said he envisions dozens to hundreds of small stations, each about the size of a single or double parking spot, to alleviate traffic at any one spot. This would mean that there will be tons of mobility vans for sale.
Once the test site has been completed, Musk suggested they would begin offering free rides, which he hoped the company could make as fun as a Disney theme park, joking that guests could “bring [their] flamethrowers.”
Flamethrowers are on their way. The Boring Company will be delivering its flamethrowers starting in two weeks, Musk said. There have been “delivery challenges,” he said. The solution is “custom delivery to your house or business, with a Boring Company van.” There was no discussion of cost-savings.
Musk also teased plans to sell large Lego-like bricks made from bored rocks. He even had one of the bricks on stage.
Check out Gary the snail–the mascot for the company.
