Tag Archives: The Boring Company

Apple, Elon Musk, Tesla

Steve Jobs & Elon Musk: Apple is the Tesla of Communication

Video

Elon Musk believes he is saving the world: are others worthy to claim the same?

Tesla is a luxury car company with an impeccable green pedigree. Even with attempts at a car with mainstream entry level pricing, owning a Tesla is still beyond the reach of many.

Yet the belief in it’s sustainable energy mission, and the far reaching master plan to back it up, make this fact, for many, “forgivable” at least, and in many ways even a boon.

After all, surviving in the face of an extinction level threat of our own making, has to be for a reason. The reason is the beauty and luxurious success of being alive. These are the twin messages that Elon Musk created that led to a business triumph that is about more than money and power.

Apple makes expensive luxury gadgets that facilitate communication, education and entertainment. It could be argued that these, no less than a pleasurable acceleration of a Tesla in “Ludicrous Mode”, are essential to our continued survival and are desperately needed to help us meet the ever growing challenges of our world and its future.

Apple, since the premature demise of Steve Jobs, has not had the same kind of heroic branding of Tesla’s sustainable energy mission. But the iPhone company should be seen in the same light. The many tools for communication and education make Apple just as important as Tesla in creating a more positive future.

With the ongoing success of Apple’s brand, and the rapid and accelerating expansion of its hardware, software and services, the company will undoubtedly have a central role to play in our success or failure as a species going forward. Apart from the mundane marketplace triumphs, there is a deeper story of a mission that should not be overlooked.

Bad guys make good guys look even better

Look at Zuckerberg and Bezos. Would anyone ever mistake either for a savior? Does anyone believe that Zuckerberg wants to build the metaverse to save the world?

Or that Bezos has ambitions toward space travel for anything other than self-aggrandizement and commercial exploitation?

No one does, of course not. Steve Jobs and Elon Musk can (could) emanate natural sincerity and engender the belief that they are on a “holy” mission. And perhaps that ring of truth succeeds because of it’s honestly and authenticity.

Bill Gates just wants to sell you overpriced, inferior software. And lock you into a never ending billing cycle.

America has had a sad history, for the last century, of celebrating charlatans and hucksters like Zuckerberg, Bezos and Gates, and misunderstanding Steve Jobs until he was gone. But it was his vision, finally, that brought Apple to the pinnacle of business success where it stands today.

Elon Musk’s ‘saving the world ethos’ is important to recognize, acknowledge and adopt. We need more visionaries with an explicit aim to improving and uplifting not just winning a battle between equality corrupt adversaries.

Apple is the Tesla of communication and it’s innovative DNA inspired and created by Steve Jobs is just as essential to building a sustainable, and better, world as Tesla & Musk.

The days of celebrating empty, temporary monetary “success” achieved by scurrilous business models must end, now.

The future heroes of sustainable tech, blockchain innovation, Web3 and, yes, even the metaverse must be lauded, supported and acknowledged as they emerge, while the truth of the shortcomings of evil men must be taught to every child.

Because the choice is not between Coke vs. Pepsi, Tesla vs. Ford or Apple vs. Microsoft. The choice is between Utopia or Oblivion. And there is no third way forward.

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Books, Elon Musk, Tech

Tales of Tesla and Musk in ‘Power Play’

Above: Photo Collage / Doubleday Books

The recently released book “Power Play” begins with some detailed accounts of Tesla’s rocky beginnings. The book is said to showcase behind-the-scenes anecdotes and allow readers to get an exact account of just how unusual Elon Musk is.

Musk also appeared to respond to various media activity related to the book, and accounts of his alleged behavior, via Twitter, confirming that Walter Isaacson will be penning his biography.

In his tweet, he said “If you’re curious about Tesla, SpaceX & my general goings on, @WalterIsaacson is writing a biography”. Isaacson is responsible for writing biographies on Benjamin Franklin, Einstein, Henry Kissinger, as well as Steve Jobs.

Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century

Author and WSJ tech and author reporter Tim Higgins pens the inside story of Musk, which includes some already leaked controversial stories.

Back in the good ole days, aka as the 2000’s, fast, sexy (s3xy) electric vehicles were a new concept, a novelty, one that lead to the rise of Tesla and Elon Musk’s colossal fortunes. For more check out “Power Play“.

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Science, Tech

Does Elon Musk have two Plans to Save Humanity?

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https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1364905536194572289/pu/vid/640x640/rd4iQkl-Xvef86HI.mp4?tag=10

Having two plans to save the world, and being Elon Musk, the questions are fascinating and a bit bizarre

It was bound to happen, sooner or later. So many fantastic triumphs over evil – starting a company with a goal of accelerating sustainable energy and transportation. And then , not only succeeding at that but challenging the fossil fuel industrial complex, beating them, then basically forcing the major automakers across the globe to finally make the shift into all electric vehicles.

And SpaceX, though launching rockets is a messy thing, at least the Starlink Satellite Broadband internet project is something that will help humans all over the earth to decentralize, potentially a much needed option, if or when the coastlines begin to shrink and overpopulated coastal megalopolises are at the bottom of the ocean.

Forever win streak has an end in sight?

But Mars? There are some questions about that. For example, if the Earth rescue is so important, and if it succeeds (please!) then why would anyone want to live in a place like Mars?

Elon Musk replies cryptically to this lovely Mars Clip

As Shannon Stirone wrote in the Atlantic this week: Mars Is a Hellhole. And further: Colonizing the red planet is a ridiculous way to help humanity. Ok. There are issues. It’s a bit cold, an average surface temperature is a deadly 80 degrees below zero according to the article. Wow, and it has no magnetic field to help protect its surface from radiation from the sun or galactic cosmic rays; it has no breathable air.

Those are all enough for anyone to want to double down on the whole “let’s fix the earth” thing.

Unless…. Musk being the genius that he is, could it be that he is hedging his bets? Has he basically already decided that this whole Climate Change thing has already gone too far? And Earth is beyond saving?

Others have pointed out that by putting even a tiny fraction less effort into saving this planet in order to try and colonize another one, one that is 3.7 billion miles away, btw, could jeopardize the slim chance still there that climate change can be slowed, stopped, even reversed before it’s too late.

A list of goals and accomplishments that dovetail nicely into a world saved, or?

So what is the Mars thing really about then? I have to be honest it might be just fine. Give “Emperor Elan” the benefit of the doubt. Tesla’s are damn S3XY and they are also a perfect first step into transforming the world transportation and even energy generation and storage into something sustainable, and that’s downright perfect: utopia and having the time of your life all at once.

So, why not just throw in Mars and a nice little colony there, just for kicks? The whole mental-telepathy, Neurallink, thing, that’s gotta be useful too and, along with AI and Hyper-loop, let’s do it all, shall we?

Perhaps it does all fit together in some way that is invisible to the rest of us. Why, when Earth seems to need all our attention, particularly with political inaction and even obfuscation and attempted sabotage of the paths to a green future, why put so much into Mars right now?

Hopefully the answer is right around the corner, or at least less than 3.7 billion miles away.

source: twitter @RationalEtienne

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Tech

On Top of the World: Elon Musk’s Infectious Joy is the Real Deal, And he’s Inviting us to Join Him

Video
https://video-lynxotic.akamaized.net/Musk-Dance.MOV
Tesla’s Elon Musk Dancing in Shanghai

The Naked Display of Abandon in Shanghai was a Signal to The Next Generation

It’s not because Tesla’s stock is at a high. It’s not because SpaceX is passing milestone after milestone. Elon Musk is on a mission, and it’s the same one we all need to be on, starting now: to save the world.

There’s a kind of liberation in facing death, like the movie protagonist racing in a stolen car, chased by the killer bad guy, not worried about the tires or how much fuel is being used: it’s adrenaline pumping survival mode, right here, right now.

And yet, with the metaphorical woman of his dreams (who is actually us and the planet) in the passenger seat, the protagonist, and all of us vicariously, feels more alive, in what could be his final moments, than in all his life to this point.

That’s why he’s dancing.

Many say 2019 was the year that the Climate Crisis, formerly known as global warming, could no longer be doubted by any sane or unbiased person. A few dozen catastrophic, clearly anomalous weather events will do that.

Read More: SpaceX Starship Plans for The Moon, Mars and Earth-to-Earth Transport

And now, as the new decade dawns, Australia burns and #WWIII trends on Twitter, we are all starting to feel like we are in that stolen car.

Elon Musk is a little different from the rest of us. Not because of his money or success or brains or celebrity. Because he has been on this mission for practically his entire life.

And now we need to join him.

Tesla is and always has been on a mission. Not to “dominate” the EV sector of the auto industry, as is so often written. Not to achieve success as measured by profit or cash flow positions. It’s on an energy mission . See it’s stated for all to see on its twitter account:

So many constantly trumpet the refrain that solving the climate crisis is all about austerity and sacrifice, and certainly there will be plenty of that.

And the deniers say that changing the system is not worth it if there is even a minuscule chance that we are not doomed. Really? How much Exxon stock do you own ? But what it will really take is a revolution in thought and the contagious motivation of an entire generation. And humans are not prophylactically inclined !  

It’s Elon Musk and Tesla’s genius, shared with Apple that they understand that you can change the world if people are moved by aspirational, beautiful, sexy dreams of a better life. Not some granola style golf cart of functionality.

An iPhone is the best, most powerful hand held computing device ever imagined and, oh yes, it’s a sexy, sleek fashion statement that you can love with all your heart as well. Ditto on the last part for every Tesla also, from the Model 3 to the Cybertruck. 

That mission is bigger than being a car maker, or battery manufacturer or even tech design firm. It’s a mission to replace the current, suicidal, Fossil Fuel based infrastructure with a sustainable one. Worldwide. Right now. Before it’s too late to matter.

Companies that have a higher mission than just “profit for shareholders” have not just a higher moral ground from which to operate but a true motivation that literally pulses like a beating heart throughout the enterprise. Often overlooked is the mission that Steve Jobs imbued into the soul of Apple and the higher mission of providing the best tools that technology is capable of.

Looking forward, for perhaps the first time in human history, the challenges are sharply defined, as are the methods and players in the game. Massive evil forces, created by humans must be countered by small and also equally massive forces just as human, oriented toward a better world and more, the best of all possible worlds.

In truth, within the total devotion and capitulation to a higher mission lies freedom, inner peace and, ultimately success and prosperity, potentially for us all.

Not a hard choice when compared to pain, suffering and, ultimately the extinction of all life on this planet.

In short, it’s Utopia or Oblivion, folks.

So, thank you Elon Musk, for showing us the steps to the dance, and for having the bravery to show us with those awkward, unselfconscious moves that, you too, are learning as you go.

Now we all just need to apply ourselves, like Greta Thunberg inviting Meatloaf to examine scientific evidence, to the task of finding the joy in changing everything that’s wrong with our world, starting with the energy infrastructure, and replacing it with a better, cleaner, less tainted one.

There is a paradox here, though. See it? If we are running for our lives from the most fearsome danger we’ve ever faced, and we are not concerned about money, power or the trappings of fame, then why does it sometimes seem like a better life is so close we can almost reach out and touch it?

Tesla Roadster – Photo / Tesla

Because that’s the secret. If we did all dance like Elon, devote ourselves to a higher cause, and put aside our worldly squabbles over money, power and fame, maybe, just maybe, we will survive and prosper, beyond all our imaginings. And that stolen car? It’s a Tesla Roadster hitting on maximum torque in Ludicrous mode.

And with every discovery shared, solution compounded and mission surpassed, we can escape together and let go of the past’s villainous errors. With luck to find a future worth all our hopes and dreams.

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Business, Tech

Elon Musk’s Boring Company gets Ontario Airport project Green-light

High-Occupancy Autonomous Electric Vehicle (AEV) proposal Courtesy The Boring Company.

On June 3rd, 2020, the San Bernardino Country transportation (SBCTA) agency voted to move forward with a proposal for a high speed tunnel from Elon Musk’s Boring Company.  The tunnel would link Rancho Cucamonga with the Ontario International Airport.  If finalized, this would mark the third major accomplishment from the company.

Read More: Battery Day Bombshell

The Boring Company is currently in progress working on the tunnel to connect the Las Vegas Convention Center which has been slated to be operational by CES in January of 2021. The company also won the contract to build an express loop for Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport which is pending. 

The SBCTA Authority Board of Directors support and view the tunnel as a cheaper and faster alternative to the other above-ground rail projects. With the unanimous vote for the proposal, staff will begin to pursue the project deeper and postpone the $3 million study that was to be conducted for airport-rail connections. 

Curt Hagman, San Bernardino County Supervisor introduced introduced the idea after touring and taking a ride in the test tunnel at The Boring Co. facility in Hawthorne, California.

“It get us thinking in a new way.  This is something that can be done relatively quickly and inexpensively.”

Curt Hagman / San Bernardino County Supervisor

The proposal involves building a 2.8 mile tunnel that would take passengers in electric cars to and from the airport with speeds up to 127 miles per hour ranging from 90 seconds to 2 minutes to reach its destination.  The tunnel would be approximately 14 feet in diameter and 35 feet below ground.  The original plan called for customized Tesla cars, however according to Hagman, the company is set to develop electric vans in order to seat more people, up to 12 passengers and their luggage, which would increase the daily capacity of up to 1,200 people per day. 

SBCTA estimates the final cost of the project could range near $60 million with costs of upwards of $75 million which is significantly less expensive than the alternative light rail systems that were quoted in the range of $1-1.5 billion.  

Read More: SpaceX Starship Plans for The Moon, Mars and Beyond

The Ontario Airport Loop is expected to be complete in approximately 4 years which is again far faster than the 10 years quoted for the construction of light railing systems. The SBCTA Director of Transit and Rail, Carrie Schindler explained in a statement given to local news, “It is much more cost-effective. I do anticipate the need for outside funding but at a reduced level as compared to building surface projects.”

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Climate Solutions, Observation

Los Angeles Aims For 25% Less Greenhouse Gas Emissions By 2028: Electric Vehicles Are The Key

LA Takes Tackling Smog and CO2 Emissions Seriously

Technology leaders from the city of Los Angeles recently announced what they are calling the Zero Emission 2028 Roadmap 2.0. In this outline, the leaders propose a plan by which the bustling metropolis reduces its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% within the next eight years—an ambitious and unprecedented goal that outdoes both the California State and Paris Climate Accord proposals.

Los Angeles is known as a progressive place, filled with creative people willing to adapt to new ideas and fight for just causes. Nevertheless, the SoCal city is also known for its soul crushing traffic. Even with four million residents, finding an Angelino without reason to complain about the town’s constantly congested crisscrossed freeways and lack of reliable public transportation is nearly impossible.

The Californians who devised this plan were not unaware of LA’s traffic issues. Since Many of them live in the city, these tech leaders can tell from the air pollution alone that vehicles are Los Angeles’ heaviest contributors to carbon emissions. If they are serious about their plan, which appears to be the case, then they will have to do something fast about all the cars and trucks smogging up the roads.

The obvious solution would be to create a more effective mass transit system in Los Angeles. However, with an infrastructure unfit for trains and countless failed attempts to move LA drivers onto buses, such a change is unlikely to catch on now. Instead, the planners are looking to the future of electric vehicles for a possible answer to the city’s pollution problems.

The Zero Emission 2028 Roadmap 2.0 focuses heavily on LA’s transition towards EVs. Specifically, by 2028, the plan aims for EVs to account for 80% of all vehicles sold in the city. Simultaneously, it wants LA and the surrounding area to create more EV-compatible infrastructure and zero-emission goods, rebranding the City of Angels as the EV Capital of the World.

City Proposed Solutions as Federal and State Level Options Failed

Of course, not all vehicles emit equally. If Los Angeles wants to achieve its goal by 2028, then it first needs to attack the heavy-duty, gas-guzzling vehicles—buses and trucks. Luckily, as of this year especially, there are many plus-sized EVs for the city to choose from. Tesla recently released the Cybertruck, and many even larger zero-emission vehicles are on the way from a wide variety of car and truck manufacturers. The California Air Resource Board is even proposing an Advanced Clean Truck regulation, which would require one out of every five trucks sold in the state by 2030 to be zero-emission models. 

Earlier this year, however, the state of California lost a battle against the Trump administration (as well as a few car manufacturers) for the right to set its own emissions standards. While the Golden State was denied the right to hold itself to a higher ecological standard than the federal government mandates, individual cities have a little more wiggle room. Therefore, Los Angeles is not just creating these standards for itself; it is hoping that these efforts will inspire other municipalities in California and around the nation to follow suit. If the federal government will not solve the problem, and the state governments are barred from taking action, then perhaps it is up to the local governments to evoke change from the bottom up.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is in full support of the plan. Known to be an environmentally sensitive politician, Garcetti proposed a Green New Deal to the city back in April, outlining ways for LA to combat climate change. The Zero Emission 2028 Roadmap 2.0 is therefore in his wheelhouse, as it accelerates the already ambitious conservation goals set out in the previous proposal. Also supporting the plan are the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) and the Transportation Electrification Partnership (TEP) as well as private sector partners Tesla, BMW, Audi, BYD, Greenlots, and Proterra.

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Cutting Edge, Tech

Elon Musk Celebrates: Starlink Satellite Landmark Tweet, Boring Company LV Tunnel Progress and Tesla Snags Model 3 Award

SpaceX – Starlink – Gif animation

Tweeting from Space – Starlink Makes Significant Strides

Elon Musk just posted from his twitter using a SpaceX launched Starlink satellite. The message, which could be seen by his 28.8 million followers highlights the steps towards making space-based internet service a real possibility on Earth. Perhaps this will be like Edison’s “Watson come here I want to see you”. Seems like “Whoa, it worked”, would be more appropriate in both cases!

The Starlink project has been set in motion and is making good progress in launching a network of broadband satellites to provide connectivity globally, most notably to include areas that lack reliable access to high speed internet connection. The first part of the internet network launched May 2019, deploying 60 Starlink satellites.

SpaceX has recently made a request of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to launch an additional 30,000 satellites into orbit (bringing the total to 42,000), which is a significant hike from the previously planned number of 12,000 already approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The Boring Company’s Las Vegas Convention Center Loop Project in Full Construction Phase

The contract between the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) Board of Directors and The Boring Company to design and construct a twin-tunnel loop system for the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) has entered its full construction phase.

Currently, it’s on schedule to be refined and ready for the Consumer Electronics Show at LVCC in 2021. Upon completion, the LVCC Loop will provide fast and convenient transportation for convention attendees across the campus through autonomous electric vehicles (AEVs), like Tesla Model X and Model 3 vehicles, at up to 155 miles per hour. Essentially, this shortens a typical 15 minute walk time to as little as 1 minute via the loop transportation system.

Another interesting feature of the site is its ground-level passenger stations, which are designed without elevators. This means that although there won’t be any elevators transporting the AEVs up and down as they transport people, therefore the LVCC loop itself should be much more efficient to build.

Additionally, although The Boring Company has been quite transparent about their project details, what they’ve left up to speculation is the kind of tunnel boring machine (TBM) they’ll actually be using to dig the tunnels. So far, the TBM in question has been transported to the site in segments, so its full assembled identity lies in wait. Will it be a Godot, a conventional TBM tested at Hawthorne, a Line-Storm, a super-fast, hybrid TBM that Musk previously teased us about, or a Prufrock, a noiseless, electrically powered TBM with zero carbon emissions?

Photo / Lynxotic

Tesla is UK the Car of the Year

Tesla Model 3, the electric, four-door sedan is the most affordable of the Tesla electric vehicles, and it’s recently won four awards from the Parkers Car Price Guide, a well known automative magazine in the UK for “Car of the Year”, “Best Electric Car”, “Best Company Car” and “Best Safety” Award for any vehicle on the market.” Musk recently retweeted about the award. 

Despite lots of (questionable) negative stories in the media, Elon Musk and his various companies and projects continue to amaze, amuse and innovate as the 3 mini-stories above clearly show. Stay tuned for more on these and other Musk projects soon.

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News

This Week: Stories from the Climate Crisis, Tech, Tesla, Apple and more

Video

Just in case you missed our recent coverage on the intersections of the Climate Crisis, Tech and Entertainment, we’ve compiled a list of articles for you to check out:

Graphic Collage / Lynxotic

Greta Thunberg: Climate Activist focused on Change now, not hopes for an Uncertain Future

Greta Thunberg is a sixteen-year-old Swedish girl who is rapidly becoming a flash point for those in the movement to raise awareness of the global emergency of global warming and climate change.

Photo / Adobe Stock

The Potential of Self-Driving Cars in Entertainment Media: First Foray

While it might be easy to imagine people in self-driving cars perpetually staring at their smart phones or laptops, there is the possibility that entertainment companies could collaborate with vehicle manufacturers to change the very design of vehicles and make car-riding a transmedia experience.

Photo / Apple

iOS 13 Tips: How to Use and Manage the new Share Menu for iPhone and iPadOS

The share menu can vary from app to app, many use it most often from within Safari or the Mail app, however, for this video, we chose the Apple News app as the operations are essentially the same.

Photo / Global Citizen / Ethan Judelson

Leonardo DiCaprio headlines Global Citizens Festival, continues fight to raise awareness of Climate Crisis

Leonardo DiCaprio had made several stances against climate change over the years. The actor spearheaded the issue in his 2016 documentary “Before The Flood” and even used the stage during his long-awaited Oscar acceptance speech to talk about the importance of preserving our natural world. Evidently, the man is a passionate environmentalist.

Graphic Collage / Lynxotic

Tesla and Elon Musk are Smiling: Gas Pumps Out, Charging Stations In

The news here, however is that these are stations that have decided to abandon gas, oil and, presumably, gasoline-based auto maintenance for EV charging and convenience. This is a trend that, hopefully, will accelerate.

Photo / Magnolia Pictures

‘Scandalous’: National Inquirer sets the Standard for Questionable News Coverage

If one even notices the title of the film printed in smaller letters in enormous tagline’s shadows, one might expect that “Scandalous” isa movie about conspiracy theories or some great national collusion that ties all of these pop-culture headlines in some absurd way. However, beneath the title on the poster, seemingly hidden, is the film’s subtitle. It reads “The Untold Story Of The National Enquirer.“

Photo / Disney

5 New Trailers just Released: Check out the future fare from Sony, Disney and more

This week had a gaggle of new trailers hitting the street so we decided to choose five to showcase and feature in this post.

Photo / Warner Bros.

Eight Movies Out Now you might have missed

Just in case you missed our coverage of recent films, out now in theaters, we’ve compiled a graphic tour of a few noteworthy (or at least to be considered) titles among them.

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Climate Solutions, Earth and Ecology, Tech

Tesla and Elon Musk are Smiling: Gas Pumps Out, Charging Stations In –

Is this a Canary in the Coal Mine moment?

Say what you want about radical engineer Elon Musk, but his companies have certainly produced some very innovative products over the years. None are perhaps as revolutionary as Tesla’s line-up of wildly popular and stylish electric vehicles that require no gasoline.

This past weekend, a beacon of progressive light shone through the clouds as two gas stations on different sides of the world got rid of all their fuel pumps and transitioned entirely to EV charging stations. One of the gas stations is in Norway and it is a branch of the global Circle K convenience store company. The other is a local gas station in Takoma Park, Maryland called RS Automotives. 

This is significant, not due to the world adding two more charging stations, there are many already and Tesla’s network of stations is truly remarkable. The news here, however, is that these are stations that have decided to abandon gas, oil and, presumably, gasoline-based auto maintenance for EV charging and convenience. This is a trend that, hopefully, will accelerate.

In the wake of the UN 2019 Climate Action Summit, these initiatives are but small victories in the fight for environmental reformation. Nonetheless, we can take these updates as signs of individual improvement and solace. Either they are money-driven transformations reflective of more people turning to electric vehicles, or they are examples of non-money driven actions that we may need businesses to make in order to shift consumers in the superior, ecologically sensitive direction.

While gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles have been around for a while with popular older models such as the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight, Tesla stands as the first widely popular electric car that runs on zero fluids excluding the windshield-wiper fluid (or tiny amounts for cooling batteries). Instead of filling it up with gas, you charge it up like a phone.

Admittedly, charging up a Tesla can, in some situations, take a while— close to an hour if fully discharged and topped off (Tesla suggests 80% maximum at any time to promote battery health and longevity). Although over half a million Teslas have been sold since their first all-electric Model-S debuted in 2012, some people still assume that the time it takes to charge one up is Tesla’s greatest weakness.

The “Range Anxiety” debate is not new, and not entirely real

This “weakness” is part propaganda, part wishful thinking and part scare tactic. The reality is, pumping gas also takes time and if you add in a bathroom break and a short stop to grab a drink to go, a supercharger can approximate, with ease, the turn-around time. Not to mention the peace of mind that comes with using a fill-up (charge up) as a break from driving rather than a hurried gas smelling pit-stop.

Charging stations have been popping up more frequently across the country and the world in the last few years. Tesla, Volkswagon and some venture capital-based start-ups have made initiatives to put up tens of thousands more EV charging stations along highways and roads.

This trend can be seen as a canary in the coal mine moment for the demise of fossil fuel based transportation and, ultimately, the fossil fuel based economic model. The looming climate crisis, breaking out virtually every day into the news, is but one reason to cheer this development. There are many more and many CitCM moments to come.

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Cutting Edge, Tech

Elon Musk’s Boring Company Snags 48M Deal

First Concrete Step Towards Transport Tunnel Proliferation

Despite receiving some pushback from two board members of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, The Boring Company has nevertheless secured a contract to build a transport tunnel under the Las Vegas Convention Center campus.

The project, which was approved following a vote by the board on Wednesday, will be comprised of two tunnels that are designed to transport passengers from the Convention Center’s New Exhibit Hall to the existing North/Central Hall. A third, pedestrian tunnel, may also be included in the project.

The Boring Company’s Las Vegas tunnel is expected to be completed in time for the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show, which will be held in January, as usual. Elon Musk has expressed his optimism at the project’s potential completion date, stating on Twitter that the transport tunnel could be operational by the end of 2019.

This is a very aggressive timetable, though the relatively short length of the tunnel, at less than one mile, could improve the Boring Company’s chances at completing the project within Musk’s target timeframe.

Read More: Las Vegas Signs Up for Elon Musk’s High Speed Dreams

First Convention Center, Next to Vegas Strip?

The Las Vegas transport tunnel will utilize a Loop System, which is comprised of autonomous electric vehicles (AEV) that can carry passengers from one point to another. The Boring Company notes that standard AEVs are Tesla Model X and Model 3 vehicles, though high-occupancy AEVs are also under development.

Photo / The Boring Company

The latter utilizes a modified Model X chassis that is capable of transporting up to 16 passengers with both sitting and standing room. Provided that The Boring Company could complete the transport tunnel without delays, test runs in the system could begin as early as November 2020, according to the project’s public contract.

Photo / The Boring Company

In its vote on Wednesday, the LVCA granted a $48.6 million contract to the tunneling startup, though the total project is estimated to cost around $52.5 million. Two-thirds of the total funding for the project will not be released to the tunneling startup until the transport tunnel is complete. Previous reports also hinted that if the Boring Company is unable to receive a certificate of occupancy for the transport tunnel, the LVCA will get back its entire investment.

“Future expansions to augment LVCC Loop can include service extensions to McCarran International Airport, hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, downtown Las Vegas, Las Vegas Stadium, and, in the long term, Los Angeles”

– The Boring Company

While the Boring Company was able to secure the Las Vegas contract, the tunneling startup’s proposal still met some pushback from two board members of the LVCA. In recent weeks, board members Michele Fiore and Carolyn Goodman argued against the Boring Company’s proposal, citing the startup’s inexperience. The two board members suggested that the LVCA adopt the proposal of Austria-based Doppelmayr Garaventa Group instead, which would create an above-ground transit system that at a projected cost of around $215 million to complete.

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Business, Cutting Edge, News, Tech

Las Vegas Signs Up For Elon Musk’s High Speed Dreams

Convention Center Project gets green light for first phase

Photo / The Boring Company

It looks as if Elon Musk is inching closer to realizing his express tunnel transit system. Projects are already at various stages of development in Los Angeles and Chicago with Musks’ Boring Company. But, it looks like Las Vegas is all-in on a Musk tunnel transit proposal. It received initial approval Tuesday after the board directors for the LVCVA voted in favor of the project.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority have been long looking for an alternative way to transport convention visitors. LVCVA CEO Steve Hill thinks that underground is the way to go. He also called it “innovative” and “an attraction in and of itself”.

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High Speed Connection, Free to Attendees

The tunnel will initially be approximately one mile long, with a focus on moving convention goers to and from the convention halls. The visitors will be rocketed at an estimated 150 mph in Musk’s Model X, Model 3, and a new “High-occupancy AEV” that will use a modified Tesla Model X chassis and will carry up to 16 passengers, with both standing and sitting options. A 15 minute walk will be replaced by a 1 minute ride.

 The transport system will be free to convention visitors. If approved by city officials the project should be ready in time for the CES 2021 Technology Show, the largest trade show of the year which attracted over 180,000 visitors in 2019. 

Graphic / The Boring Company

Three Design Options are being considered, which will offer convenient access from five potential station locations placed in close proximity to key LVCC destinations and nearby transportation connections.

-The Boring Company

Projected additional destinations are also indicated by The Boring Company:

“Future expansions to augment LVCC Loop can include service extensions to McCarran International Airport, hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, downtown Las Vegas, Las Vegas Stadium, and, in the long term, Los Angeles”

-The Boring Company

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Musk approached Los Angeles with a similar opportunity last year, showcasing its “Hawthorne Tunnel” test. Plans for The Boring Company’s “Dugout Loop” project is still in the works. This project would connect passengers from Dodger Stadium to parts of Hollywood. 

A similar project in Chicago (connecting parts of the city to O’Hare Airport) appears to have stalled indefinitely.

City officials throughout the United States have shown skepticism and opposition towards companies and corporations making promises to revitalize decaying parts of major cities. These endeavors are normally determinative with tax breaks for the corporations, and tax payers paying the bill. Musk’s The Boring Company plans to build the Las Vegas tunnel without a taxpayer contribution. Estimated costs are 35-55 million dollars.

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