X

Elon Musk's superfast LA underground 'loop' is coming sooner than you think

The Boring Company is almost ready to show off its first tunnel under LA, designed to be the ultimate hack for commuters.

Eric Mack Contributing Editor
Eric Mack has been a CNET contributor since 2011. Eric and his family live 100% energy and water independent on his off-grid compound in the New Mexico desert. Eric uses his passion for writing about energy, renewables, science and climate to bring educational content to life on topics around the solar panel and deregulated energy industries. Eric helps consumers by demystifying solar, battery, renewable energy, energy choice concepts, and also reviews solar installers. Previously, Eric covered space, science, climate change and all things futuristic. His encrypted email for tips is ericcmack@protonmail.com.
Expertise Solar, solar storage, space, science, climate change, deregulated energy, DIY solar panels, DIY off-grid life projects. CNET's "Living off the Grid" series. https://www.cnet.com/feature/home/energy-and-utilities/living-off-the-grid/ Credentials
  • Finalist for the Nesta Tipping Point prize and a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
See full bio
Eric Mack
tesla-boring-tunnel

A Tesla inside the Boring Company test tunnel.

 Elon Musk

The public could get a chance to take a test ride on the Boring Company's futuristic, high-speed, underground traffic shortcut as soon as Dec. 11.

CEO Elon Musk , better known for leading SpaceX and Tesla Motors, said on Twitter Sunday that the first test tunnel for his underground "loop" transit concept "is almost done" and that a special event on Dec. 10 will be followed by free rides in the tunnel at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif.

Loop has been described as a large "skate" or platform that could carry a vehicle under and around Los Angeles traffic at speeds up to 155 miles per hour (250 kilometers per hour). Musk has unveiled plans for a system of stations across the Los Angeles metro area. He also said he'd like to include transit pods that can carry pedestrians and cyclists through the subterranean system. In June he said the fare would be $1 per passenger.

Loop is different than Musk's Hyperloop concept, which is a sort-of train traveling inside a pressurized tube at near supersonic speeds over longer distances.

Watch this: Elon Musk's Boring Company wants to build a 'weird little Disney ride' under LA

The Boring Company also has a contract with the city of Chicago to build a loop to the city's O'Hare International Airport. 

Musk has a reputation for often missing his own timelines, which prompted someone on Twitter to ask if the Dec. 10 date is "in real time or Elon time?"

"I think real," Musk responded.