The new innovation: Elon Musk claims he can build a $20 billion tunnel that will take people from NYC to London in 54 minutes
The new innovation: Elon Musk claims he can build a $20 billion tunnel that will take people from NYC to London in 54 minutes
Elon Musk, the man who seemingly can’t resist turning science fiction into a personal to-do list, has once again graced us with his latest big idea. This time, it’s a $20 billion tunnel that would whisk passengers from New York City to London in a breezy 54 minutes. Yes, you read that correctly — a tunnel. Across the Atlantic. In under an hour. Cue the collective eye-roll.
In a press conference that felt more like the plot of a Saturday Night Live skit, Musk described his vision: a hyperloop-esque vacuum tube submerged beneath the Atlantic Ocean, capable of propelling pods of travelers at speeds that make airplanes look like horse-drawn carriages. According to Musk, the project is “100% feasible,” which in Musk-speak translates roughly to, “This will probably never happen, but isn’t it fun to think about?”
Critics were quick to point out the glaring logistical hurdles. For starters, the Atlantic Ocean is a tad more complex to navigate than, say, the Las Vegas Strip, where Musk’s Boring Company recently completed a tunnel system that’s essentially a Tesla carpool lane. And let’s not even get into the engineering nightmare of maintaining a vacuum-sealed tube under thousands of feet of water, or the slight inconvenience of financing a $20 billion underwater experiment.
Still, Musk remains unfazed. “We’ve already done the math,” he assured reporters, as if math alone could overcome minor details like tectonic plate movement or the small possibility of catastrophic leaks. “We’re confident this is the future of transportation.”
Social media, predictably, had a field day. One user quipped, “Can we fix potholes first before we start digging tunnels across oceans?” Another suggested that Musk might be better off using that $20 billion to improve his customer service at Tesla. Even longtime fans of Musk’s ambitious endeavors were scratching their heads. “Love the guy,” one commenter wrote, “but maybe let’s stick to space rockets for now?”
As with most of Musk’s grand proclamations, the NYC-to-London tunnel is likely to remain in the realm of sci-fi daydreams — for now, anyway. But if nothing else, Musk has once again succeeded in doing what he does best: grabbing headlines, sparking debates, and making us all wonder whether he’s a visionary genius or just a really enthusiastic troll. Maybe both?
