Elon Musk-led
Boring Company has unveiled the first images of a concept vehicle that could
one day slide through tunnels across cities.
The latest images
show a prototype electric vehicle that is much bigger than a car and looks like
a stylised mini-bus with ample space for passengers to sit, stand and even fit
a bicycle. The design resembles a golf car with covered glass enclosures.
In April, the
company had released a video
showing a network of high-speed tunnels ferrying cars from place to place. It
demonstrated how cars like these can run on roads as well as fit into a tight
elevator mould that will bring the car down to the tunnel link and release it
there.
Musk's company has
already started digging subterranean tunnels, which he says is a dependable
solution for reducing traffic in future. Currently, the tunnels are only being
dug beneath the parking lot of SpaceX's headquarters in LA as of now as Musk
will need city permits to build tunnel on public property.
As
digging tunnels is notoriously expensive, Musk has said his company can
dramatically reduce costs with measures such as reducing the tunnel diameter
and building machines that can bore faster.
The concept of
underground transportation speeding beyond tube runs was proposed by Musk in
2013 when he talked about the idea of Hyperloop, an underground transport
system using train-like compartments and levitation tracks. That idea is
currently being taken forward by another company called Hyperloop One.
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