Elon Musk’s tunnel-transportation company is gearing up to test prototypes of a real-life Batcave, to be installed in customers’ own garages.
On Wednesday, the Boring Company gained approval from Hawthorne City Council to build a shaft underneath a residential garage in the California city. The Mercury Times reported that the garage is part of a private residence on 120th Street in Hawthorne near SpaceX headquarters, under which runs a one-mile underground tunnel that Boring previously built.
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It’s all part of the grander scheme of inner- and inter-city high speed travel, where people drive their cars into underground tunnels and are whisked around, beneath the surface traffic, on tracks.
In May, Musk announced that the Boring Company, which began (at least, to the public eye) as a dad joke on Twitter would start breaking ground in Los Angeles. In June, he revealed that the plan would involve a 3.6 mile tunnel along Sepulveda Boulevard to Dodger Stadium, dubbed “Dugout Loop.” That same month, Chicago chose The Boring Company to build a high-speed hyperloop from downtown Chicago to O’Hare airport.
As part of the approval, Boring had to agree that no cars emerging from the carhole would leave the garage and go onto the street, to keep them from impacting traffic in the area. They’ll have to start at SpaceX HQ, travel through the tunnel, end up in the garage, and stay there.
The Boring Company received unanimous approval from Hawthorne City Council to build the shaft. The Council also waived requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act, meant to “prevent or minimize damage to the environment.”
Speaking to the Mercury Times, Councilmember Angie Reyes English questioned this choice: “My desire is to ensure the community is made aware. I want to make sure we’re doing this the right way,” she said.
In July, the company showed off its car elevator in a video:
So imagine that, but in a garage, likely somewhere in the price range of Bruce Wayne’s savings.
