Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, visionary of some of the hottest tech companies in the world, and possible super villain, spoke at the Ted (Technology, Education, Design) Conference this week. He outlined several plans for where his company is focusing the next few years, and one plan, in particular, stood out: Musk is currently tossing around (and testing, on privately owned land) the idea of a series of underground tunnels to help with traffic congestion. The company undertaking this project, the hilariously named “Boring Company,” even released this slick video showcasing how it would work:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j70GvgXt-lE[/embedyt]
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As you can see, Musk foresees entry points on regular streets, where cars would park on a sort of elevator that would lower them into a tunnel and whisk them away at high speeds. He even envisions the tunnels being at different depths, to make for a huge variety of entry and exit points as well as to alleviate congestion.
Musk is currently experimenting with the technology on privately owned land. The main roadblock right now is the slow speed with which he can bore tunnels through the ground (hence the name of the company), and he hopes new technology will allow for much faster boring. And if you don’t believe he’s a super villain, Elon Musk is basically trying to make Shredder’s drill vehicle from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
Musk also spoke to the Ted Conference about the manned rocket to Mars, self-driving and electricity-powered cars, his continued focus on solar power, the hyperloop, and many other technologies that his companies are working on. You can view a summary of his entire interview here. When asked why he is focusing so much on these life-altering technologies, Musk responded: “I just want to think about the future and not feel sad.”
What do you think of Elon Musk’s underground highway system? Is it possible? Or just a clever disguise for his utter villainy? Let us know in the comments below.
