While Elon Musk gave a rare sit-down interview at SXSW this weekend it was actually on Twitter that the tech entrepreneur made the most impact.
In a series of tweets, Musk revealed that The Boring Company would no longer be making tunnels for cars, but for a new high-speed transport system that could replace the bus.
Initially Musk had created The Boring Company so it could start digging a network of tunnels under LA which would then be used to transport cars around on high-speed ‘skates’.
However Musk has clearly had a change of heart, instead refocusing the company to focus on small bus-sized vehicles that would pop up out of the ground at designated ‘stops’ dotted all over the city.
Each bus-sized pod would be able to travel at up to 150mph using the same single-track system that he had developed for the cars.
Since last year Musk has been building his very own 2-mile test track deep underneath SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
The tunnel will allow Musk to test the different types of transport vehicle he wants to use whether it’s the futuristic glass bus concept he’s recently showed off or the skids that could carry individual cars around the city.
While these skids are travelling at speeds of up to 150mph this is not the same type of technology that Musk is developing with Hyperloop.
You see in addition to his plan to solve urban transport the inventor is also now working on his original Hyperloop concept which could, in theory, allow people to travel at up to 700mph using vacuum-sealed tubes that run between cities.
If that sounds like science fiction then you’ll pleased to hear that like most things Musk says, he also then does and is already building a successful test system for Hyperloop.
Sadly unlike his work on SpaceX and Tesla there’s no real date set for when we’ll start seeing either of these technologies working in real cities, instead we’re just going to have to sit tight and wait.