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Elon Musk’s new boring company aims to build 30 levels of tunnels for cars and Hyperloop

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Photo: Bloomberg

Elon Musk confirmed that he really is starting to a new tunneling company and as with many of his other side projects, it’s starting right there at SpaceX. He shed new light on the project yesterday in an interview with Bloomberg, announcing that the venture will be an independent venture aimed at building vast underground transportation networks for cars and high speed trains such as the Hyperloop.

What’s in a Name?

Musk’s sense of humor is evident in the list of potential names for the company, Elon even going so far as to consider trolling Toys “R” Us in suing: “My other idea was to call it Tunnels R Us and to essentially troll Toys “R” Us into filing a lawsuit,” the slightly deranged CEO cackled. In my mind, he’s channeling Mr. Burns from the Simpsons. “Now we’ve decided to troll AT&T instead! We’re going to call it American Tubes and Tunnels.”

Ultimately, he settled on The Boring Company which in and of itself is loaded with wordplay. Even the acronym is funny, rocking a big TBC, or To Be Continued, which is comical on more than a few levels with Musk always dreaming up, starting and delivering on yet another completely disruptive idea in a disparate industry.

To kick off this rather mundane company, Elon and SpaceX have a leader in charge but no full time staff though it has secured a domain over at BoringCompany.com.

New Details on The Dig

Elon shed some light on the team’s intentions with the original dig, stating that the only reason it started there is because they already own the land and wouldn’t need any additional permits to get started. In parallel to the on-site construction, a team is working to secure the necessary permits to extend the initial tear in the earth beyond the property lines of SpaceX.

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The initial hole will evolve into a sort of ramp that will ultimately serve as the point of entry for a full sized boring machine to get down around 50 feet down which is necessary to avoid gas, sewer and other infrastructure that sits closer to the surface.

But where is it going? Musk and team have not shared any details on the actual destination of the tunnel. With Musk’s ideas and pension for getting things started, there’s likely a team of undergrad interns locked away in the basement of SpaceX mapping out the nuts and bolts of the tunneling solution including where this initial stretch will actually go.

To Infinity and Beyond

To get the project started and to really dig into the possibilities of tunnels, a used boring machine, dubbed Nessie, was purchased for pennies on the dollar, not so much to dig the hole, but to get the team grounded in the technology.

From there, Elon has full confidence that the speed of boring can be improved 5-10x which is based more on a first principles analysis of the technology than actual experience tunneling not that a lack of industry experience has ever stopped Elon in the past, having already transformed the online banking industry with Paypal, the entire automotive industry with Tesla and rocketry with SpaceX.

Disruption

Ever the mad scientist, Elon seems to thrive on change, seeing the possibility through the stagnation, or maybe because of it.

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Looking more broadly at urban transportation, even Tesla + Hyperloop will have a tough time solving the problem if we are bound to the surface. Peeling back the crust reveals almost endless volumes of space to play with and Elon hopes to do just that, even talking of certain areas having 30 layers of tunnels which to the unimaginative minds of the masses is incomprehensible.

Whether or not Musk’s latest machination will make it off the property of SpaceX is yet to be seen but one thing is for certain – the fuse that is Elon Musk has been lit and he is going to make an honest effort at leveling up the way we get around town by taking us all underground.

Source: Bloomberg

 

I'm passionate about clean technology, sustainability and life. I've worked in manufacturing, IT, project management and environmental...and enjoy unpacking complex topics in layman's terms. TSLA investor. Find more of my words on my website or follow me on Twitter for all the latest. Tesla Referral link: http://ts.la/kyle623

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Tesla to lose 64 Superchargers on New Jersey Turnpike in controversial decision

Tesla is set to lose 64 Superchargers on the extremely busy and congested New Jersey Turnpike.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is going to lose 64 Superchargers on the New Jersey Turnpike after a decision by the Turnpike’s governing body was made not to renew its contract with the automaker.

On Friday, Tesla revealed that the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) had officially decided to choose a sole third-party provider for its electric vehicle infrastructure. This resulted in the NJTA not renewing its contract to keep Tesla Superchargers on the toll road.

The NJTA also requested, with its decision not to renew with Tesla, that the company decommission all 64 Supercharger stalls, an unprecedented decision that will remove these plugs from the turnpike, making charging more scarce on the busy roadway.

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Tesla detailed the situation on Friday:

“The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (“NJTA”) has chosen a sole third-party charging provider to serve the New Jersey Turnpike and is not allowing us to co-locate. As a result, NJTA requested 64 existing Supercharger stalls on the New Jersey Turnpike to not be renewed and be decommissioned.”

Tesla said it has been preparing for the potential that the Turnpike Authority would make this decision for three years by building 116 Superchargers nearby to still supply drivers with reliable charging infrastructure.

The company also noted that its Trip Planner would adjust automatically.

There were also efforts to maintain a relationship that would benefit both the Turnpike and EV drivers who use it.

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Tesla said it offered the NJTA various “above-market commercial items,” like an offer to build Superchargers at all New Jersey Service Plazas with equipment upgrades like screens and adapters for those companies who have gained access to its charging piles but need to utilize the NACS and CCS1 plugs.

The decision is one that seemed to baffle the company, especially as infrastructure is one of the biggest concerns among EV skeptics:

“Tesla always advocates for more infrastructure and co-location with additional third-party charging providers. This drives down costs through optionality, and accelerates EV adoption by having sufficient capacity to shoulder peaks. We expect that ~30 times more fast-charging capacity is needed to get to full EV adoption. NJTA’s decision to remove, rather than add, critical charging infrastructure is a setback for New Jersey’s EV adoption goals of 100% Zero-Emission New Car Sales by 2035. It removes Turnpike access to the most reliable (99.9% uptime), least congested (<1% waiters) and cost-effective (~30% lower $/kWh) charging. “

The company said it was more than willing to invest in Turnpike sites if the Authority or New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy wanted to reverse the decision.

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SpaceX hit with mishap investigation by FAA for Starship Flight 9

Starship’s ninth test flight has the FAA requiring a mishap investigation from SpaceX.

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Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX has been hit with yet another mishap investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) related to the company’s ninth test flight of Starship earlier this week.

The FAA said the mishap investigation is “focused only on the loss of the Starship vehicle, which did not complete its launch or reentry as planned.” The agency said the loss of the Super Heavy booster is covered by one of the FAA’s approved test induced damage exceptions requested by SpaceX.

All of Starship and Super Heavy booster debris landed within the designated hazard areas, the FAA confirmed.

SpaceX Starship Flight 9 recap: objectives & outcomes

It said it activated a Debris Response Area out of an abundance of caution as the booster “experienced its anomaly over the Gulf of America during its flyback toward Texas. The FAA subsequently determined the debris did not fall outside of the hazard area. During the event there were zero departure delays, one flight was diverted, and one airborne flight was held for 24 minutes. ”

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SpaceX has become accustomed to mishap investigations by the FAA, as they have been impacted by them on several occasions in the past, including on Flight 8. However, they are a precautionary measure and usually are resolved within a few weeks.

Flight 9 was one of SpaceX’s most eventful, as there were several discoveries during the launch. First, it was SpaceX’s first time reusing a Super Heavy booster, as the one utilized for Flight 9 was also used on Flight 7 in January.

Contact with the booster and Starship were both lost during Flight 9. SpaceX said the booster was lost “shortly after the start of landing burn when it experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly approximately 6 minutes after launch.”

Meanwhile, Starship was set to make a splashdown in the Indian Ocean, but the vehicle was lost about 46 minutes into the flight, SpaceX said in a mission recap.

It was an improvement from the previous two flights, as both 7 and 8 resulted in the loss of Starship after just a few minutes. Flight 9 lasted considerably longer. These flights are also not intended to make it to Mars, despite what other reports might try to tell you.

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These are ways to gain information for when SpaceX eventually tries to get Starship to Mars.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla bull writes cautious note on Robotaxi launch: ‘Keep expectations well contained’

Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas is more cautious about Tesla’s upcoming Robotaxi launch.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla analyst Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley is telling investors to be wary of the Robotaxi details CEO Elon Musk revealed this week, after a report seemed to land on the prospective launch date of the platform in June.

Earlier this week, a report from Bloomberg indicated Tesla had internally landed on a tentative date of June 12 for its Robotaxi launch in Austin. Shortly after, Musk detailed the successful testing Tesla has already performed without anyone in the driver’s seat.

Tesla lands on date for Robotaxi launch in Austin: report

He also indicated Teslas would self-deliver to customers in June.

Analysts are now sending out investor notes on the announcement Musk made, along with the Bloomberg report. Jonas’s note is more cautious than others.

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Jonas believes Tesla needs to shed more details before investors and fans of the company get too excited. He believes there is more information that could be released, but until then, he is suggesting investors “keep expectations well contained.”

He wrote:

“As is typical for highly anticipated Tesla events, we would keep expectations well contained for the (reported) June 12th Cybercab launch event in Austin. However, we would look for a continued stream of updates for the performance and growth of the network thereafter (numbers of cars, miles, trips, etc.) in the days and weeks that follow.”

The tone of Jonas’s note contradicts that of Wedbush’s Dan Ives, who believes the “golden age of autonomous” lies in Tesla’s hands. He seems to believe Tesla will come through on its June 12 launch.

Tesla set for ‘golden age of autonomous’ as Robotaxi nears, ‘dark chapter’ ends: Wedbush

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Morgan Stanley’s note is slightly more

Jonas is obviously still bullish, but is much more tentative to move forward with an attitude that communicates skepticism about what Tesla has revealed.

Jonas and Morgan Stanley have a $410 price target on Tesla shares with a ‘Buy’ rating. Tesla stock is trading at around $358 at 12:15 p.m. on the East Coast.

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