Elon Musk unveiled his underground transportation tunnel last Tuesday, allowing reporters and invited guests to take some of the first rides in the revolutionary albeit bumpy subterranean tube -- the tech entrepreneur's answer to what he calls "soul-destroying traffic".
上周二,埃隆·马斯克揭开了他打造的地下交通隧道的神秘面纱,允许记者和受邀嘉宾成为这条尽管颠簸但颇具革命性的地下管道的首批乘客。这位科技企业家希望借助这种地下隧道来治愈他所说的“破坏灵魂的交通”。
Guests boarded Musk's Tesla Model S and rode along the tunnel.
客人们登上一辆特斯拉Model S,沿着隧道兜风。
The demo rides were considerably slower -- 64 km per hour -- than what Musk says the future system will run at: 240 km per hour.
尽管马斯克表示,未来这一轨道系统的时速将达到240公里,但试乘时汽车的时速要慢得多,仅为64公里。
The car jostled significantly during the ride, which was bumpy enough to give one reporter motion sickness.
汽车在行驶过程中颠簸不已,导致一名试乘的记者开始晕车。
Musk touted the newly finished 1.83 km tunnel segment as a breakthrough in low-cost, fast-digging technology being pioneered by his nascent tunneling firm, the Boring Company.
马斯克称赞这段长1.83公里的隧道是他初创的隧道挖掘公司“无聊公司”在低成本、快速挖掘技术上的突破。
Musk put the total price tag for the finished segment at about $10 million, including the cost of excavation, internal infrastructure, lighting, ventilation, safety systems, communications and a track.
马斯克表示,这段完工隧道的总造价约为1000万美元,其中包括挖掘、内部基础设施、照明、通风、安全系统、通讯和轨道的成本。
By comparison, he said, digging a mile of tunnel by "traditional" engineering methods costs up to $1 billion and takes three to six months to complete.
他表示,相比之下,用传统工程方法挖掘一英里长的隧道,成本高达10亿美元,需要3到6个月才能完成。