Improvements to Elon's Boring Tunnels and Car Elevators Idea

[sjoshuaj]

When I first saw Elon's presentation on the Boring Tunnels and Car Elevators, I loved every part of it but one. I had real issues with how the elevators integrated in with the city streets. The solution presented seemed half baked at best. Here are my ideas for improving it.

 

[KarenRei]

1) They're not placed "in an existing lane", they're an alternative to roadside parking spaces. You sacrifice a few roadside parking spaces to provide the elevators.
2) If you can't imagine how a car could pay for something, you're not thinking hard enough.
3) If you can't think of how to temporarily block access to a hole, you're not thinking hard enough.
4) The whole point is to not need to take up whole buildings worth of space. Do you have any clue what your veritable city block of turnoff space would cost in a downtown area?

 

[mongo]

When I first saw Elon's presentation on the Boring Tunnels and Car Elevators, I loved every part of it but one. I had real issues with how the elevators integrated in with the city streets. The solution presented seemed half baked at best. Here are my ideas for improving it.

Nice graphics.
Some thoughts I've had.
Payment/Navigation: The system is automated and links to the navigation system in the car. (possibly it is Tesla/ EV only to reduce ventilation/ fire requirements)

Fall protection: the elevator could have a split cover that opens and provides the side guards. Front and back can have pop up guard rails.

Lane usage: depending on elevator density, this may not be an issue, but the elevator cover could be driven on when not in use. See also taxi stands.

Returning cars: Ride up elevator and exit forward. Navigation routines place car so that they exit pointing toward their destination.

 

[jkn]

3) If you can't think of how to temporarily block access to a hole, you're not thinking hard enough.

But it will completely different than presentation video. Side walls have to be permanent.

 

[Yuri_G]

You should tweet him, or try to get into contact with someone working at the Boring Co. Good ideas!

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I'm voting disagree because as KarenRei noted the point of the elevator idea is to be able to use the street. That's owned and controlled by municipalities.

If you want to take up more space there are plenty more options.

And, jkn, yes the spaces would need permanent barriers, but the video was just a video. Putting a barrier would have blocked the view of the cars going up and down and made for worse visuals. The barriers themselves would be a trivial matter.

Besides, they've barely started working on the fundamental tunneling cost challenge, let alone the skates and elevator logistics.

BEVs can allow for smaller tunnels
Smaller tunnels and X allow for cheap tunnels
Cheap tunnels allow for more tunnels.
More tunnels and Y allow for better urban transportation in dense cities.

We don't even know if X will be possible. And we don't know what transportation will be like by the time X is achieved, and whatever it's like could affect Y.

 

[Ludus]

I think part of reason for elevators in street parking spaces is to fit the system into dense urban areas without much disruption. I read a lot into the glass transport Pod also depicted. To my POV that vehicle represents the norm for urban areas and a Tesla S/X/3 or other conventional style vehicle is an outlier. Transport Pods pickup 8-12 people at the curb and travel around 24/7 responding to Mobility Apps. For longer distances they use the Skate-tunnel system. Cars can use the same system but at market rates that control use. I don't think any vehicles would be allowed to use the system without some equivalent to "SpeedPass".

I'd expect something like your system would uses in some areas. Elevators might also come up directly into multi story parking garages or major destination parking lots.