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The Boring Company’s Las Vegas tunnel site is bustling with activity (Timelapse video)

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Elon Musk’s The Boring Company has surpassed 65% completion on its Las Vegas tunnel project. A timelapse video taken at the project site shows the company’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) has picked up the pace and has now dug 2,900 feet for the first tunnel of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The video shows how the earth excavated from the tunnel is being lifted into loading-trucks, which then transfer the soil to another location. Once the earth is removed, wall panels are hoisted.

Drilling for the two-tunnel Vegas Loop transportation system began in November last year and is part of the $810 million renovations and expansion of the Convention Center.  Local media outlet News 3TV reports that the expansion project is around 65 percent complete, putting it right on schedule for the opening of CES in January next year.

The first tunnel, which is situated right underneath Paradise Road, is about the length of eight football fields right now. Once the Las Vegas Loop is complete, it will connect the Convention Center to important locations in the city, including the McCarran International Airport, the Strip, and downtown Las Vegas, among others.

60 minutes nightly The Boring Tunnel work compressed in 6 minutes at the Las Vegas Convention project from r/BoringCompany

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It also aims to cut down travel time from one end of the renovated Convention Center to the other end. Currently, it would take 45 minutes for one to walk the entire distance of the expanded campus. However, using the Vegas Loop will significantly cut down travel time to just two minutes, according to convention head Steve Hill. Around 4,400 people are expected to use the underground transportation system per hour.

“We’ve really been pleased with the progress. Everything’s remained on track timeline-wise,” says Lori Nelson-Kraft, senior vice president of communications and government affairs for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The speed with which Boring Company has been working may be attributed to Line-Storm, its second-generation hybrid TBM that has been touted to be twice as fast as Godot, the original drilling machine. At the rate Line-Storm is going, it is expected to complete drilling the first tunnel by March and the second tunnel by May. The Convention Center previously announced that digging for the first tunnel was halfway through completion in mid-January.

The Vegas Loop is not the first project of its kind. The Boring Company has successfully completed a private test tunnel in Hawthorne, CA to be used for developing new tunneling and transportation technologies. However, the $52.2 million people mover in Las Vegas will be the first to be available for public use. Other Boring Company projects include the Dugout Loop in LA, the Express Loop for the O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, and a Loop connecting Washington D.C. and Baltimore.

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GM CEO Mary Barra says she told Biden to give Tesla and Musk EV credit

“He was crediting me, and I said, ‘Actually, I think a lot of that credit goes to Elon and Tesla…You know me, Andrew. I don’t want to take credit for things.”

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General Motors CEO Mary Barra said in a new interview on Wednesday that she told President Joe Biden to credit Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, for the widespread electric vehicle transition.

She said she told Biden this after the former President credited her and GM for leading EV efforts in the United States.

During an interview at the New York Times Dealbook Summit with Andrew Ross Sorkin, Barra said she told Biden that crediting her was essentially a mistake, and that Musk and Tesla should have been explicitly mentioned (via Business Insider):

“He was crediting me, and I said, ‘Actually, I think a lot of that credit goes to Elon and Tesla…You know me, Andrew. I don’t want to take credit for things.”

Back in 2021, President Biden visited GM’s “Factory Zero” plant in Detroit, which was the centerpiece of the company’s massive transition to EVs. The former President went on to discuss the EV industry, and claimed that GM and Barra were the true leaders who caused the change:

“In the auto industry, Detroit is leading the world in electric vehicles. You know how critical it is? Mary, I remember talking to you way back in January about the need for America to lead in electric vehicles. I can remember your dramatic announcement that by 2035, GM would be 100% electric. You changed the whole story, Mary. You did, Mary. You electrified the entire automotive industry. I’m serious. You led, and it matters.”

People were baffled by the President’s decision to highlight GM and Barra, and not Tesla and Musk, who truly started the transition to EVs. GM, Ford, and many other companies only followed in the footsteps of Tesla after it started to take market share from them.

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Elon Musk and Tesla try to save legacy automakers from Déjà vu

Musk would eventually go on to talk about Biden’s words later on:

They have so much power over the White House that they can exclude Tesla from an EV Summit. And, in case the first thing, in case that wasn’t enough, then you have President Biden with Mary Barra at a subsequent event, congratulating Mary for having led the EV revolution.”

In Q4 2021, which was shortly after Biden’s comments, Tesla delivered 300,000 EVs. GM delivered just 26.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving shows confident navigation in heavy snow

So far, from what we’ve seen, snow has not been a huge issue for the most recent Full Self-Driving release. It seems to be acting confidently and handling even snow-covered roads with relative ease.

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Credit: Grok

Tesla Full Self-Driving is getting its first taste of Winter weather for late 2025, as snow is starting to fall all across the United States.

The suite has been vastly improved after Tesla released v14 to many owners with capable hardware, and driving performance, along with overall behavior, has really been something to admire. This is by far the best version of FSD Tesla has ever released, and although there are a handful of regressions with each subsequent release, they are usually cleared up within a week or two.

Tesla is releasing a modified version of FSD v14 for Hardware 3 owners: here’s when

However, adverse weather conditions are something that Tesla will have to confront, as heavy rain, snow, and other interesting situations are bound to occur. In order for the vehicles to be fully autonomous, they will have to go through these scenarios safely and accurately.

One big issue I’ve had, especially in heavy rain, is that the camera vision might be obstructed, which will display messages that certain features’ performance might be degraded.

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So far, from what we’ve seen, snow has not been a huge issue for the most recent Full Self-Driving release. It seems to be acting confidently and handling even snow-covered roads with relative ease:

Moving into the winter months, it will be very interesting to see how FSD handles even more concerning conditions, especially with black ice, freezing rain and snow mix, and other things that happen during colder conditions.

We are excited to test it ourselves, but I am waiting for heavy snowfall to make it to Pennsylvania so I can truly push it to the limit.

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Tesla hosts Rome Mayor for first Italian FSD Supervised road demo

The event marked the first time an Italian mayor tested the advanced driver-assistance system in person in Rome’s urban streets.

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Credit: @andst7/X

Tesla definitely seems to be actively engaging European officials on FSD’s capabilities, with the company hosting Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri and Mobility Assessor Eugenio Patanè for a hands-on road demonstration. 

The event marked the first time an Italian mayor tested the advanced driver-assistance system in person in Rome’s urban streets. This comes amid Tesla’s push for FSD’s EU regulatory approvals in the coming year.

Rome officials experience FSD Supervised

Tesla conducted the demo using a Model 3 equipped with Full Self-Driving (Supervised), tackling typical Roman traffic including complex intersections, roundabouts, pedestrian crossings and mixed users like cars, bikes and scooters.

The system showcased AI-based assisted driving, prioritizing safety while maintaining flow. FSD also handled overtakes and lane decisions, though with constant driver supervision.

Investor Andrea Stroppa detailed the event on X, noting the system’s potential to reduce severe collision risks by up to seven times compared to traditional driving, based on Tesla’s data from billions of global fleet miles. The session highlighted FSD’s role as an assistance tool in its Supervised form, not a replacement, with the driver fully responsible at all times.

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Path to European rollout

Tesla has logged over 1 million kilometers of testing across 17 European countries, including Italy, to refine FSD for local conditions. The fact that Rome officials personally tested FSD Supervised bodes well for the program’s approval, as it suggests that key individuals are closely watching Tesla’s efforts and innovations.

Assessor Patanè also highlighted the administration’s interest in technologies that boost road safety and urban travel quality, viewing them as aids for both private and public transport while respecting rules.

Replies on X urged involving Italy’s Transport Ministry to speed approvals, with one user noting, “Great idea to involve the mayor! It would be necessary to involve components of the Ministry of Transport and the government as soon as possible: it’s they who can accelerate the approval of FSD in Italy.”

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