Elon Musk, a favorite target of satirists and urbanists alike, is once again the subject of The Onion's withering pen.
"Boasting that the system used 75% less power than normal cars and could be installed on almost any street corner with 400 square feet of free space, Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled a new urban slingshot system Wednesday that he claimed was capable of of [sic] moving up to six pedestrians across the street per hour."
That's the opening salvo of the latest effort by satirical news site The Onion to draw attention to the absurdities of the transportation technology innovations championed by Elon Musk. This latest satire hits a little bit of Tesla, a little bit of Hyperloop, a little bit of The Boring Company, and a little bit of LVCC Loop, the latter of which made the wrong kind of news at a media debut earlier this month.
Here are some of the recent satirical burns that have been sent Elon Musk's way, by various media outlets but heavily featuring the work of Onion staff writers:
- The Self-Driving Car That Stole All of Tesla's Money
- A Play About Elon Musk's Hubris, in Shakespearean Blank Verse
- Tesla Invents the Greenest Car
- Tech Genius Realizes His Invention Has Already Been Invented
The latest round of satire includes a few more burns that can be read after the jump.
FULL STORY: Elon Musk Unveils Urban Slingshot System Able To Move 6 Pedestrians Across Street Per Hour
Tesla’s Self-Driving Still Not Working in Las Vegas Tunnels
The Boring Company had previously said it was working with Tesla to use its self-driving system in its tunnels below Las Vegas to save costs on drivers, but two years later, there is no clear timeline for “full autonomy.”
Las Vegas Doubles Down on Elon Musk and the Boring Co.
The Clark County Commission wants more Teslas in more tunnels.
Opinion: Stop Trusting Elon Musk—on Tunnels, on Teslas, on Everything
Musk has leveraged social media intrigue and a hot streak on the market to become the standard bearer for autonomous vehicle technology. Trust Tesla at public peril, argues James Brasuell in this opinion piece.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association