Elon Musk Posts Video Of 'Electric Sled' For LA Tunnel Travel
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com/AP) — Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Friday posted video on social media of what he describes as an electric sled speeding through a tunnel, a test of a system he envisions for 3D networks of underground passages for speeding traffic under Los Angeles' congested roads.
He posted on Twitter and Instagram that such sleds could transport cars at 125 mph, with automatic switching from one tunnel to the next.
The video shows the sled, apparently riding a monorail, zipping through alternately dark and lighted sections of the tunnel. Musk warned that watching it may cause motion sickness or seizures.
A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on May 12, 2017 at 5:48am PDT
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The founder of the SpaceX rocket and the Tesla electric car companies told a recent TED Talk his ideas for improving the speed and cost-effectiveness of tunnel boring.
His plan includes platforms that act like elevators carrying the cars to an underground series of tunnels. As part of the project, Musk unveiled a tunnel-digging machine outside Hawthorne-based SpaceX.
In December, Musk said that Los Angeles' transportation issues had inspired him to launch a firm — the Boring Company – that would focus on traffic-alleviating underground tunnels.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)