Elon Musk’s Boring Company Is Testing Tunnels With Tesla Vehicles Across Las Vegas

Elon Musk’s Boring Company began transporting passengers through the twin tunnels. It was built below the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) as part of testing to prepare the system for its full debut after their Tesla vehicles ride.

Test takers’ videos, images, and accounts shared online offer the most consistent view yet of Musk’s solution for traversing the LVCC campus. It’s just driving Teslas through two 0.8-mile tunnels, a far cry from the autonomous sled and shuttle ideas Musk once proposed for The Boring Company.

There are three stops for the LVCC Loop system. The stations at each end are above ground, while the middle is at the same 30-foot depth as the tunnels. The Boring Company testing with  few dozen Tesla vehicles to tunnels, including Model 3 sedans and Model Y and Model X SUVs. While the company has discussed having passengers request cars using an app, the test only required them to walk to the next available car. The test pilots then got on, went to one of the other two stations, and repeated. It appears that most of the riders got between seven or eight to a dozen trips during the test.

Climbing up from one end of the LVCC campus is no quick feat on foot. It recently added an entirely new wing, especially after the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). Taxi lines and taxi wait times are also notoriously long. So any solution that makes it easy to get around the grounds is likely to attract convention attendees, even if the service costs the LVCVA $ 52.5 million.

The Entire Public Debut After Boring Company Testing Tunnels

The Boring Company says the Loop will eventually turn a 45-minute walk into a two-minute ride. However, it hasn’t dropped to that level of efficiency yet hence the test. In a video, one of the test passengers said that he had to wait between three and five minutes for some of the trips. However, with a top speed of around 40 miles per hour, trips between stations appear it has taken nearly a year to arrive a minute and a half.

One of the things that increased the total travel time was the subway station. There were times when test passengers entered the station only to find some congestion. Drivers have to maneuver around other parked Teslas, people getting in and out, and cars queuing to re-enter the tunnels. It’s a snug fit.

Also, there was some general confusion as people got used to how its system worked. They constantly reminded passengers to leave the doors open when exiting the vehicle to speed up the transition to the next trip. One person got hit in the head next to one of the Model X’s Falcon Wing doors.

There is a big question with The Boring Company’s efforts in Las Vegas is almost the same as it always is with ideas of Elon Musk: How will it scale? The company says that it wants to eventually transport 4,400 people an hour through the LVCC Loop tunnels. However, people uncovered documents late last year that appear to show it will only transport 1,200. Beyond the LVCC circuit, The Boring Company wants to build a massive tunnel system that runs under the entire city, including the Las Vegas Strip and the airport. It claims that this massively expanded version of its underground highway will handle just over 50,000 passengers per hour.

The Boring Company has stated that it plans to allow a maximum speed of 150 miles per hour in these tunnels, but when it sends it, Tesla vehicles have limited speeds during testing. And while the ultimate goal is for Teslas to drive themselves, the system will rely on human drivers for the foreseeable future.

Hitting that top speed is one of the critical things that, according to The Boring Company, distinguishes their idea of ​​”Teslas in tunnels” from, say, a subway system. Another is cost, which we have seen the company promote in its most recent proposal in Miami. It is likely not possible unless the company can automate driving. The tunnels are too narrow for a human driver to handle. Surf continuously and carefully at such high speeds, which was evident from the test videos.