Elon Musk's tunnelling firm, The Boring Company, has unveiled plans to build a so-called Tesla tunnel loop under Nashville.
The underground freight tunnel will use Tesla vehicles to transport people from the city's downtown to Nashville International Airport in around eight minutes.
It comes after Musk's Boring Company implemented its first underground Tesla tunnel in Las Vegas in 2021, delivering people to the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). More recently, the emission-free tunnels have been extended to connect nearby resorts with the LVCC.
The loop uses human operated Tesla vehicles in the on-demand electric taxi service, but the company has plans to introduce driverless vehicles eventually.
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According to The Boring Company, construction on the Nashville tunnels will start 'immediately,' but the company's president Steve Davis said it won't be easy.
"Tough place to tunnel. If we were optimising for easiest places to tunnel, it would not be here," he said.
"You have extremely hard rock, like, way harder than it should be, but it’s an engineering problem that’s fairly straightforward to solve.”
Construction on the tunnel is expected to be complete in around two years, although previous projects have experienced significant delays.
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The company previously pitched for similar projects in California and Illinois but the proposals fell flat after elected officials in both areas requested environmental reviews of the project.
It comes after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined The Boring Company more than $112,000 after construction workers complained of chemical burns and flooring in the tunnels. The company deny these claims.
Meanwhile, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has been quick to reassure locals that the tunnels will have 'zero cost' to public spends and instead will be 'entirely privately funded' by Musk's company and its partners.
"They could have taken their next underground anywhere but they saw something unique about Tennessee. And we are grateful," he said, as per WLPN.
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Despite Lee's gratitude, the plans have received criticism from other politicians, with Nashville Democratic representative Justin Jones claiming he was 'denied entry' from the announcement, despite Republicans being allowed to attend.
"This project, which requires state approval, is yet another attempt by Bill Lee and his corporate donors to enrich themselves while neglecting public services and real infrastructure needs, of working class people who commute downtown for work at bars, hotels and restaurants," he said in a statement on Instagram.
"Musk’s Boring Company has been known to violate workplace safety laws and damage water quality, which is why other cities have refused or rejected his Tesla Tunnels, and why they are afraid of being questioned. "
Topics: Elon Musk, Tesla, Technology
Emma Rosemurgey