Elon Musk: The Boring Company opens tunnel below SpaceX in bid to ease LA gridlock
Tesla co-founder planning network of underground transit routes for electric cars
Elon Musk has unveiled a transit tunnel underneath Los Angeles that marks the first step in his plan to ease traffic in congested cities.
Drilled by Musk’s The Boring Company, the tunnel connects the headquarters of his space exploration firm SpaceX, in the small LA town of Hawthorne, to a “nondescript building” 1.14 miles away that is notable only “because of all the security surrounding it”, says TechCrunch.
Guests at the grand unveiling on Tuesday night were driven through the 12ft-wide passage in an all-electric Model X SUV produced by Musk’s other major business Tesla, the tech news site says.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The car had been lowered down to the tunnel entrance on a metal plate ahead of the demonstration rides, reports The Sunday Times. Although the vehicle only reached about 40mph, some passengers described their journey as “notably bumpy”.
Nevertheless, Musk’s ultimate aim is to have vehicles whizzing along at up to 150mph, in a series of tunnel networks across the US.
“This is just a prototype. That’s why it’s a little rough around the edges,” he said yesterday.
The South African-born billionaire described his first ride as “epic”, adding: “It was a eureka moment. I was like, ‘This thing is going to damn well work.’”
The unveiling comes two years after Musk announced that the traffic in LA was “driving him crazy” and that he planned to buy boring machines to “start digging through the city to find an alternative”, says Sky News.
Musk plans to build the first public transit tunnel in Chicago, which will take the form of an 18-mile-long, two-way system for passenger vehicles, The Daily Telegraph says.
The aim is to then build tunnel networks in LA and Las Vegas, with other cities across the US also expressing interest in similar systems.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Japan's surname conundrum
Under the Radar Law requiring couples to share one surname hinders women in the workplace and lowers birth rate, campaigners claim
-
How successful would Elon Musk's third party be?
Today's Big Question Musk has vowed to start a third party after falling out with Trump
-
Music reviews: Bruce Springsteen and Benson Boone
Feature "Tracks II: The Lost Albums" and "American Heart"
-
Another Starship blast sets back Musk's Mars hopes
Speed Read Nobody was killed in the explosion, which occurred in south Texas
-
What Elon Musk's Grok AI controversy reveals about chatbots
In the Spotlight The spread of misinformation is a reminder of how imperfect chatbots really are
-
Elon Musk's SpaceX has created a new city in Texas
Under The Radar Starbase is home to SpaceX's rocket launch site
-
Why Bezos' new pickup could be a 'wrecking ball' in EV industry
Today's Big Question Slate Auto's no-frills approach is a 'potential Tesla killer'
-
Test flight of orbital rocket from Europe explodes
Speed Read Isar Aerospace conducted the first test flight of the Spectrum orbital rocket, which crashed after takeoff
-
Musk vs. Altman: The fight over OpenAI
Feature Elon Musk has launched a $97.4 billion takeover bid for OpenAI
-
Elon Musk's DOGE website has gotten off to a bad start
In the Spotlight The site was reportedly able to be edited by anyone when it first came online
-
What Trump's 'tech bros' want
The Explainer Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos had 'prime seats' at the president's inauguration. What are they looking to gain from Trump 2.0?