Elon Musk recently posted a video of The Boring Company’s (TBC) Prufrock II tunnel boring machine (TBM) emerging from the ground. Musk held a small celebration with family and friends for the occasion. He also provided some updates on the ongoing quest to beat Gary the Snail.
Musk explained Prufrock II emerged from the ground in a tweet that accompanied his short clip. He also shared that The Boring Company’s latest TBM had tunneled from one property to another to test Prufrock II.
Prufrock II has had quite the journey—literally and metaphorically—over the last two years. The TBM was first spotted in The Boring Company’s Bastrop, TX location in September 2021. By August that same year, TBC shared a video of Prufrock II going live for the first time in Texas.
In April 2022, The Boring Company uploaded a picture of Prufrock II launching into the ground in Texas. The recent update from Elon Musk hints that Prufrock II resurfaced recently.
Watch Out Gary the Snail!
Earlier this year, The Boring Company raised $675 million in a Series C funding round. TBC plans to use the funds to recruit employees, scale Boring machine production and build tunnels.
Prufrock II is faster than The Boring Company’s previous TBM Godot+. According to the tunneling company Prufrock II is designed to mine 1 mile per week. Musk stated that TBC isn’t close to beating Gary the snail yet. He estimated The Boring Company would probably be able to defeat Gary the Snail by 2024. The Boring Company is preparing to conduct Hyperloop tests by the end of the year.
“In the short term, if each Prufrock-2 mines at 1 mile/week, and TBC produces 1 new Prufrock machine per month, then TBC will be introducing 600 miles/year of capacity,” TBC calculated. “As a point of reference, less than 20 miles of underground subway tunnel has been constructed in the United States in the last 20 years.”
TBC appears to be developing Prufrock III already. After the Series C funding, it released information stating that Prufrock III would be faster than its older siblings. The medium-term goal for Prufrock III is for the TBM to board tunnels at 1/10th human walking speed or 7 miles per day.
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