Elon Musk's The Boring Company has partnered with officials in Tennessee to construct a tunnel connecting downtown Nashville with Nashville International Airport and to use the tunnel to take passengers between the two via Tesla vehicles, Axios reported.
If the concept sounds familiar, it might be because a similar "hyperloop" system began being constructed in Las Vegas in 2019, ferrying its first passengers in mid-2021. Musk presented the idea of hyperloop-style tunnels in 2013, though the concept is centuries old and typically involves pneumatic tubes.
On July 28, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued a news release about the partnership with The Boring Company, touting "a transformative private transportation project" that would come "at zero cost to taxpayers."
The project is expected to result in the Music City Loop, connecting Nashville's convention center and downtown with its airport. Transit time is estimated to be eight minutes, with a projected launch date of fall 2026.
The undertaking could be a boon to Tesla, as the electric vehicle maker has endured a rocky year.
If the tunnel project proves successful, it could encourage residents of and visitors to the city to make their next car an EV — but considering the history of Musk's tunnel proposals, that's a big if.
There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical that the promised tunnel project will materialize on time and as described, as similar schemes have failed to come to fruition or undershot expectations and promises.
In its coverage of the announcement, tech news site The Verge noted that "The Boring Company has floated and quietly dropped many of its tunnel-digging plans" in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.
After a news conference announcing the partnership, state Rep. Justin Jones said he was inexplicably denied entry to the event, lambasting the intentional exclusion of "those elected by the people to serve and uphold the public good."
Jones was not alone in his concerns about the project. Mayor Freddie O'Connell is among local leaders with reservations about the state's announced partnership with Musk.
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"We are aware of the state's conversations with The Boring Company, and we have a number of operational questions to understand the potential impacts on Metro and Nashvillians," O'Connell told Axios.
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