Earlier this week, The Boring Company (TBC) announced that it has continuously mined in a Zero-People-in-Tunnel (ZPIT) configuration. A Tesla executive responded to TBC’s latest milestone and explained how Elon Musk’s tunneling company will create Tesla’s robotaxi future.
The Boring Company shared videos of its ZPIT configuration and explained why this is a huge milestone.
“In the same way that full rapit reusability is the holy grail for rockets, ZPIT continuous mining is the holy grail for Boring Machines. This is the safest, fastest, and least expensive architecture to build tunnels,” TBC clarified.
Tesla vehicles with human drivers are currently used in The Boring Company’s Las Vegas tunnels to transport people. The Tesla Cybercab would significantly impact the functionality of TBC’s tunnels. Tesla’s VP of AI Software, Ashok Elluswamy, explained how The Boring Company would help create Tesla’s vision for robotaxis.
“Will need this big time in the future,” Elluswamy said, referring to The Boring Company’s announcement about reaching ZPIT configuration.
“With autonomous vehicles, we’ll have affordable premium transport for everyone. This will likely increase traffic due to the increased usage, even though each vehicle is much more efficiently utilized,” he elaborated.
The Boring Company’s main missions are to solve traffic and provide rapid point-to-point transport. Elon Musk believes the solution to traffic is 3D road designs, which include tunnels that act like a wormhole or warp tunnel.
TBC’s Las Vegas Convention Center tunnel network showcases Musk’s idea of 3D road designs and how fast it can transport people. The Vegas Loop in Las Vegas is also expanding and will support The Boring Company’s mission.
The Boring Company is close to beating Gary the Snail’s tunneling speed with its Prufrock boring machine–another big milestone. According to TBC, the latest iteration of Prufrock can start tunneling within 48 hours of arriving at a site and dig over 1 mile per week. Prufrock’s next goal is to beat 1/10th of a human walking speed or 7 miles per day.
Tesla is preparing to launch robotaxi services in Texas this summer. As Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company ramps up robotaxi services, his tunneling company will ensure the roads are clear of mind-numbing traffic.
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