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Here's a Tesla inside Elon Musk's LA tunnel

Here's a Tesla inside Elon Musk's LA tunnel

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The proverbial canary in a coal mine

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Well look at that, a car in a tunnel. Not just any car, but a Tesla Model S inside a tunnel being dug beneath Los Angeles by Elon Musk's Boring Company. Proof once and for all that a car can, uh, fit inside of a tunnel.

Oh, right, you're not supposed to drive through the tunnel yourself. The plan is for regular cars to be lowered down on a lift to an awaiting "electric skate" that will transport vehicles along magnetic rails at speeds of up to 124 mph (200 km/h).

Tesla for scale
Tesla for scale

The test tunnel being built beneath SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, just outside of Los Angeles, is a proof of concept. A dry run, if you will, that will let Musk and Co say, "See, I've safely built a two-mile-long underground test tunnel, now give me the approvals I need to build my first Hyperloop." 

So yes, it's a car in a tunnel — but it's also the proverbial canary in a coal mine that should be a warning to those who profit off entrenched forms of transportation.