Tesla's Driving Slowly in a Brightly Lit Tunnel: The Boring Co.'s Las Vegas Debut

Media outlets got a sneak peek last week of the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop, a $52 million tunnel built by Elon Musk's The Boring Company to connect the ends of the sprawling Las Vegas Convention Center.

"The $52 million Las Vegas Loop, a tunnel sitting 40 feet underground, is about 1.5 miles long and has three stops around the Las Vegas Convention Center: Central Station, which is underground, as well as West Station and South Station, which are both above ground," writes Matt Novak in an article for Gizmodo.

But the real question inherent in the fascination with the early tunnel boring efforts of Musk et al. are how futuristic the technology is. The answer to that question, according to Novak: "That depends how futuristic you think a car being driven slowly by a human inside of a tunnel might be."

A Tweet by Las Vegas Review Journal Mick Ackers last week kicked off several days of media commentary.

Footage of what it looks like when a @Tesla is traveling through the @boringcompany’s Convention Center Loop. #vegas #boringcompany pic.twitter.com/ph1DJoTYBi

— Mick Akers (@mickakers) April 9, 2021

The dispassionate approach of Akers stands in contrast to the more exuberant style of the reports on the new tunnel for the News with Shepard Smith on NBC, which was also shared on Twitter.

Elon Musk thinks he has the solution for those who hate being stuck in traffic across the country.
CNBC's @contessabrewer is in Las Vegas with this story. pic.twitter.com/L5w17pZWTe

— The News with Shepard Smith (@thenewsoncnbc) April 8, 2021

While the debut of the Loop was met with criticism online from urbanists and transit advocates, the Boring Company is still finding traction in the halls of government around the country. The city of Miami, for example, is pursuing Musk's aid in tunneling under the city in the hopes of alleviating congestion. 

Novak, meanwhile, notes that despite the new media coverage of the LVVC Loop, media outlets actually gained very little new information about the project.