--- title: "In Seven Years, Elon Musk’s Boring Company Has Only Drilled 2.4 Miles of Tunnel" description: "As Fortune reports, Elon Musk's Boring Company has only completed a measly 2.4 miles of operational tunnels in its seven-year existence." date: "2023-11-29" modified: "2023-11-29" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/seven-years-elon-musk-boring-company" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "boring company" - "elon musk" - "las vegas" - "the digest" --- # In Seven Years, Elon Musk’s Boring Company Has Only Drilled 2.4 Miles of Tunnel ![As Fortune reports, Elon Musk's Boring Company has only completed a measly 2.4 miles of operational tunnels in its seven-year existence.]() *\Image: Ethan Miller/Getty Images\* ## Tunnel to Nowhere We wouldn't blame you for having forgotten about Elon Musk's tunneling venture, the Boring Company. And apart from [opening]() a seemingly redundant project that ferries visitors at the Las Vegas Convention Center through Tesla-lined tunnels two years ago, the company doesn't have an awful lot else to show after all these years. As [*Fortune* reports](), the company has only completed a measly 2.4 miles of operational tunnels in its seven-year existence, and has largely ditched plans to have autonomous vehicles move passengers through the Las Vegas tunnel in favor of human drivers. Plans for several other tunnels across the country have also either fizzled or abandoned. In short, the company is seemingly as far away as ever — or, if possible, even further — from the optimistic future of an autonomous people-moving system illustrated in its [flashy marketing materials]() five long years ago. And, needless to say, [another black eye for the flailing Elon Musk](). ## Hole Milk Whether it'll ever have a chance to realize its vision remains to be seen. The Boring Company is churning through staffers and executives at an alarming rate, [according to *Fortune*](). Meanwhile, Musk has spent very little — if any — time at the company. "Elon’s idea for the Boring Company was a good one," one former employee told the magazine last week. "It just hasn’t been executed on." Attracting new talent for the venture has also proven difficult. "Tunnel engineers are different than those hired at Elon’s other companies in that they have a much lower risk profile and are much more conservative in their thinking," one former executive told *Fortune,* "so it’s hard to attract people with a moonshot." "If you want to work for Elon, Boring Company is your last choice," they added. Many planned projects, like a twin tunnel system connecting Baltimore and Washington DC, have largely fallen apart and the company is seemingly focusing most if not all of its efforts on expanding its existing Las Vegas tunnel to 68 miles. "This is part of the problem of public transportation, is that it’s very expensive to operate," Peter Muller, an autonomous transportation system consultant, told *Fortune*. "\[Pretty much\] no public transportation system in the US makes money." **More on The Boring Company:** *[Leak Allegedly Shows Bizarre New Tesla Vehicle]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()