I’m going to give a basic overview of Elon Musk’s Boring Company and the latest news on their progress so far.
The Boring Company, TBC for short, is a tunnel construction company founded by Elon Musk in 2016.
TCB’s goal is to solve traffic problems plaguing major cities such as LA and DC.
How does TBC plan to solve traffic and does it seem possible?
Let’s find out!
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Before we get started, let’s talk a little about traffic.
According to a 2015 article from Newsweek, the average urban commuter wastes about 42 hours a year stuck in traffic jams, and a Texas Transportation Institute report estimates U.S. highway congestion costs $160 billion a year, due to lost productivity, gas burned and additional wear and tear on vehicles.
$160 billion dollars, that’s enough money to build the International Space Station and one Ford Class Aircraft Carrier.
And The Boring Company, TBC wants to solve all that.
According to TBC’s website, in order to solve traffic problems, roads must go 3D, either through flying cars or by tunnels underground.
TBC envisions a large network of tunnels many layers deep, allowing cars to travel throughout the city, solving traffic no matter how big and populated a city grows.
In order to make their vision possible, they need to reduce the cost of creating tunnels. Tunnel projects are very expensive, some costing as much as $1 billion per mile!
They plan to reduce tunneling costs by 1) improving Tunnel Boring Machine Technology; 2) improving Tunneling Methods and 3) by cutting tunnel size in half.
First, The Boring Company plans to develop electric-powered Boring Machines that have triple the power along with upgrading their cooling systems.
Second, TBC will tunnel using more efficient methods, such as making boring machines autonomous and ensuring that they are working continuously, compared to current methods where boring machines that spend 50% of the time tunneling and the other 50% erecting tunnel support structures.
And Third, TBC will create one lane tunnels that are half as wide from 28 feet diameter, down from 14 feet. By creating tunnels half the size, tunneling costs will be reduced by 3 to 4 times.
Cars will park on electric skates, which are metal plates on wheels, and propelled by an electric motor. The skates will stabilize the vehicle allowing for travel in a smaller tunnel.
The electric skates are where the vision gets interesting, and I think it’s a fantastic concept.
The skates will be versatile, able to transport cars, goods, and people.
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