Thread by @MatHias8719

Want to find out how the Vegas Loop [VL] stacks up against the underground [U]?
Here is a thread 🧵(1/19)

[2/19] There's been some discussion here on Twitter about how useful the VL really is. Here in Vienna we are used to taking the U in the city. Thus, tunnels in which cars drive sound stupid at first. But is it really?

[3/19] capacity:
The U can carry around 810 passengers per train. With an interval of 5 min., that's max ~10k passengers/h.
The VL currently handles around 1350 passengers/h but should be able to handle more than 4000 passengers/h in the future. But let's stick to 1350 for now

[4/19] costs
For the cost comparison, I compared the values from a city nearby LV. In LA, the subway cost 500 M$/km when it was built (In Vienna its about 300 M$/km). In comparison, the VL is a real bargain at around 19 M$/km.

[5/19] cost per passenger
However, the comparison of costs/passenger & km provides a more informative value. But here, too, the Vegas Loop has a clear cost advantage.

[6/19] passengers at even costs
So if you throw the same money at the VL as to the U, you could transport more than 3x as many passengers, even though the number of passengers on the VL is supposed to triple.

[7/19] weight/passenger
And this is where an advantage of the U becomes clear. In terms of weight/passenger, a Tesla has about three times the mass to accelerate and brake again.

[8/19] conclusions
- In terms of cost, the Boring Company's Vegas Loop is superior to the underground.
- Even if it is apparently cheaper to build a U in Europe, that would not be enough to transport the same number of people per $.

[9/19]
- The VL is not only cheaper, but also easier to implement because no complex infrastr. is required within the tunnel. The U requires rails and a continuous power supply.
- The advantage of the U is that you don't need a battery because you have the power supply

[10/19]
- In terms of efficiency, the fully loaded subway is superior to the Teslas of the VL
- The disadvantage of the U, however, is that, as far as I know, there is no possibility of recuperation. There are attempts in Vienna that when a subway pulls into the station, ...

[11/19]
another one that just wants to leave there can use the braking energy. But this situation is likely to be rare. The Tesla, in turn, can convert kinetic energy into electr. energy at any time. In addition, the Tesla drives to the destination station without interruption,..

[12/19]
so it does not have to stop as often. Thus, the difference in weight is less dramatic.
- An environmental disadvantage that the U does not have is the wear and tear of the tires as with any car.

[13/19]
- another serious disadvantage of the VL is that only one Tesla in the tunnel has to be defective to bring the entire system to a standstill. However, the vision is that there will be several tunnels running in parallel, so this problem could be mitigated.

[14/19] Visions of the future with robotaxis (RT):
- problem in Vienna and also in other cities is that rural residents have to park their cars in Park&Ride garages in order to get on the U. With the VL system, a RT could be called directly to the resident on land in the future..

[15/19]
and would take the user directly to their destination without having to change trains.
- Another advantage of the Tesla is that it can be tailored to specific needs. If there are no passengers, the Tesla simply stays in the station or can go elsewhere, e.g. be used as...

[16/19]
robotaxis in the future. The U can reduce its intervals but at some times runs almost unoccupied and therefore not efficiently.
- A Tesla van can also be used for transporting multiple people. The disadvantage of the higher kg/pass. would then disappear.

[17/19] Final Thoughts
The information I gathered for this thread has shown me that the Vegas Loop can be a good and, above all, cheap alternative to conventional public transport. However, it remains to be seen how secure and reliable the system really is. However, ...

[18/19]
with the use of RT, which Tesla is planning to introduce this decade, the VL system could become a complete success.

[19/19] you made it 😅

Hope u enjoyed this 🧵
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You can also follow me @Mathias8719 for this and similar topics.

sources:





hypebeast.com/2022/6/elon-mu…
reviewjournal.com/news/news-colu…
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
metro.net/about/rail-mod…
wien.orf.at/stories/308109…
physics.usc.edu/Undergraduate/…

teslarati.com/the-boring-com…