Elon Musk‘s Boring Company has been deemed a ‘death trap’ after a video surfaced online showing a traffic jam inside its Las Vegas Loop that sits 40-feet below the surface.
The short clip, taken by a passenger in the back seat of a Tesla, shows the vehicle cruising through the lit up, white tunnel and then coming to standstill behind several other vehicles.
The congestion inside the narrow tunnels sparked concerns on Reddit, with some users worried that ‘if a car catches fire, people will die.’
Musk has touted the underground tunnels as the answer to traffic jams, as the billionaire previously stated, ‘traffic is driving met nuts,’ but instead of being a congestion killer, people fear the loop is a nothing more than a ‘deadly subway.’
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Elon Musk’s Boring Company is shuttling CES attendees around the Las Vegas venue, but a video of white Teslas cruising through the underground tunnels shows the ‘future of transport’ may not get rid of traffic jams after all
The convention loop was unveiled in April 2021, sitting 40 feet beneath the ground and costing $52.5 million to complete.
However, this is just the tip of the iceberg for the Boring company in Las Vegas – it plans to construct a 29-mile-long tunnel system with 51 stations that runs from places like the hotel casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, the city’s new football stadium, the Las Vegas Convention Center and McCarran International Airport.
The Convention Center Loop’s tunnel system is about 1.7 miles long with a total of 29 parking spaces spread throughout the three stations.
In the video, posted by Benjamin Brochstein, who is at the conference, the driver explains that the congestion is likely due to the south hall – one of the three stations- being closed.
The Vegas loop was unveiled in April 2021, sitting 40 feet beneath the ground and costing $52.5 million to complete
The underground tunnel system is about 1.7 miles long with a total of 29 parking spaces spread throughout the three stations
However, the traffic jam is not a good look for Musk’s company that was solely started to put an end to traffic jams once and for all.
Drivers cannot cruise more than 40 miles per hour, but when Brochstein was stuck in traffic, the Tesla was only hitting four miles per hour – at the most.
Not only does the south hall being close impact the traffic flow, but Boring is using 70 Tesla vehicles to cater to this year’s influx of attendees.
The company seems to have been preparing ahead, as this is the first time CES was held in person since 2020, and more than 50,000 people are said to be at the event.
However, maxing out the number of cars that can travel through the tunnel and closing one of the stations is a recipe for congestion and even disaster.
Reddit users flocked to the comment section of the video, noting how the tunnel is ‘a death trap in the event of a fire.’
Another users posted: ‘Ok eh…. what happens if there’s a crash and a fire ? How will people get out ? This is a death trap and a disaster waiting to happen. Especially with Tesla battery fires…’
According to Boring’s website, there are several fire safety protocols in place through the tunnel.
‘Loop tunnels are outfitted with emergency exits, fire detection systems, fire suppression systems, and a fire-rated first responder emergency communication system. The systems are tested frequently with local Police and Fire Departments,’ it states.
The short clip was taken from the back seat of a Tesla as it drives through the Convention Center Loop and finds itself at a standstill behind several other vehicles
In the video, posted by Benjamin Brochstein, who is at the conference, the driver explains that the congestion is likely due to the south hall – one of the three stations- being closed
Musk first unveiled plans for his Boring Company in 2016 on Twitter, saying ‘Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging…’.
‘It shall be called ‘The Boring Company’,’ he added.
Then in 2018, the world got a first look at the firm’s tunnel that was under construction at the time.
The video shows a barebones tunnel, with pipping and cords exposed along the sides – much different form the sleek, white tunnels designed in the Las Vegas loop.
However, the Tesla vehicles traveling through the Las Angeles prototype were hitting speeds of 150 miles per hour.
Musk explained the tunnels would provide high-speed travel to passengers looking to bypass the above ground traffic and reach their destinations much sooner.
However, that is far from the Las Vegas experience.
When the loop opened in Nevada, the first riders left disappointed and even bored after cruising through the brand-new tunnel system.
However, the traffic jam is not a good look for Musk’s company that was solely started to put an end to traffic jams once and for all
‘Elon Musk’s ‘Public Transit’ in Las Vegas Still Just Humans Driving Cars Slowly in a Tunnel,’ wrote tech website Gizmodo.
‘Elon Musk’s Dumb Tesla Tunnel Now The Lamest Thing In Las Vegas!’ added tech and motoring site Jalopnik,.
‘It’s about as exciting as a sheet of unpainted drywall discarded in a closed office park. It’s just some Tesla Model 3s driving slowly in a tube,’ wrote Jason Torchinsky. ‘All this really is are some Teslas driving in tunnels lined with LED lights.
It is something that Musk appears to agree with: ‘We simplified this a lot. It’s basically just Teslas in tunnels at this point, which is way more profound than it sounds,’ he wrote in a tweet last October.
CNET’s Roadshow similarly declared the tunnel to be ‘lame’.
When the loop opened in Nevada, the first riders left disappointed and even bored after cruising through the brand-new tunnel system
‘It seems like this project is quickly turning into Tesla cars driving people underground, rather than some sort of futuristic transport system. Unfortunately, for now, it looks sort of disappointing.’ wrote Sean Szymkowski in his review of the system.
‘The tunneling remains the most impressive thing about the project, with both tunnels completely excavated this past May. However, the rest of the process seems to boil down to a ride in a Model 3.’
Twitter users were also far from impressed at the great unveil.
‘Vegas actually let Elon Musk make a less efficient subway system…’, wrote one user. ‘They really let him make a subsidized Tesla advertisement.’
‘You conned 53M for Vegas Circus Tunnel Ride,’ wadded another user.
‘Watch Teslas slowly move through Elon Musk’s new Boring Company tunnel under Las Vegas. Cause it’s a crappy Disney Ride,’ tweeted Robert Hynes with a video of the vehicles.
