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Musk outlines cost-cutting plan for Boring Co: cheaper, faster tunnel digging
One of the large reveals made by Tesla and SpaceX Chief Elon Musk at TED2017 was his plan to create a multi-layer high-speed tunnel infrastructure to support mobility by way of electric skates and Hyperloop tubes.
A key point that he drove home for the underground tunnel network was the integration of the system into cities.
“You have to be able to integrate the entrance and exit of the tunnel seamlessly into the fabric of the city. So, by having an elevator, sort of a car skate that is on an elevator, you can integrate the entrance and exits to the tunnel network just by using 2 parking spaces.”
Musk shared a video demonstrating how skate elevators would be integrated into city streets where they await vehicles looking to be transported through the underground labyrinth of tunnels. The serial tech entrepreneur envisions loading docks wherein vehicles would simply pull into the skate, get lowered into the tunnel network, and be sent along a slot car-like track at speeds of 200 km/h ( 124 mph). The Boring Company’s tunnel network won’t simply alleviate surface congestion, it will completely transform the way we move cars, people and freight, says Musk.
It is worth noting that The Boring Company and Tesla are under control of Musk, while the Hyperloop project has been open sourced, but with support from SpaceX.
Eliminating human drivers allows the skates to move at much faster speeds than human-controlled vehicles. Fixed routes within the tunnel network further improve safety beyond the dynamic nature of human-determined driving routes. The tunnel network is also infinitely scalable. “You can alleviate any arbitrary level of open congestion with a 3D tunnel network.” and that “There’s no real limit to how many levels of tunnels you can have.”, says Musk from TED2017.
The key barrier to creating tunnels today is the exorbitant cost. The recent 2.5 mile expansion to the Los Angeles subway system came at a cost of nearly $1 billion per mile. Musk and team at the Boring Company hope to cut the cost of tunneling by a significant amount by streamlining the tunneling process and reinventing the machines that help facilitate the digging.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5V_VzRrSBI
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Building Tunnels For Less
First, the team is looking to cut the diameter of the tunnels they dig, moving from the traditional tunnel diameter for passenger vehicles of 26 to 28-feet to a 12-foot standard diameter which would be sufficient for the Tesla skate. On the surface, this might not seem like a lot, but cutting the diameter by 50% cuts the cross sectional area by a factor of four. This is significant as the speed and cost of tunneling is largely driven by the amount of cross sectional area to dig. Being able to cut out 75% of the time associated with digging comes with enormous cost savings.
Second, the team plans to attack head-on the way tunneling machines currently dig. Traditional machines dig, slowly and incrementally, then stop to install reinforcements to support the newly exposed earthen walls. Musk and team are working to install the reinforcements continuously thus eliminating the need to pause operations. This integration is expected to increase the speed of the overall process by as much as 50%.
The Boring Company tunneling machine spotted in front of SpaceX in April, 2017
Finally, the team believes that current digging machines are nowhere near their power and thermal limits, and is looking to ‘jack up the power’ to the digging machines. Doing this, the team hopes to increase the speed by a factor of 4 or 5 on top of the other improvements being suggested by Musk.
Musk also revealed that The Boring Company has a pet snail named Gary who can currently travel at 14 times the speed of existing tunneling machines. While this is more a testament about how slow the boring process is than the amazing speed of Gary, it is a fun target for the team, to be able to build tunnels quicker than Gary can crawl, and continues the comedic spin on the new company.
These tunnels could be kept at or near a vacuum to reduce or eliminate air resistance for all the moving objects within it. Curiously, Musk shared that,
“To withstand the water table, you have to design a wall to be able to withstand 5 or 6 atmospheres. To go to vacuum, you only need to be able to withstand 1 atmosphere.”
It is clear that Musk is very excited about this new Boring Company. He indicated during his sit down at TED2017 that he spends 2-3% of his time on the project, noting that it’s essentially being run as not much more than an intern project with a used boring machine and a few people dedicating partial effort to it.
Tesla has started to deploy the 2026 Summer Update to owners across its fleet, and among the biggest changes are improvements to Navigation, a new startup animation for the Model 3 and Model Y, Caraoke scoring, and new capabilities for Grok.
As the update has started making its way to some cars, we can now see a few of the features operating in real-time. We will show you what some of the new features look like in this article, along with some additional details on what changed.
Not all of the new features in the 2026 Summer Update have quite made an appearance, but some of them have, so we’ll show those here:
New Animation Screen for 3/Y
Tesla is rolling out a new startup animation for Tesla Model 3 and Model Y owners. This is present in Launch Edition and Performance Model 3 and Model Y, but other trim levels do not have anything like this.
The new animation screen on Model 3/Y with the 2026 Summer Update
Apparently color will also be customizable: pic.twitter.com/wSdwggtG3S
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 27, 2026
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Owners can adjust the color associated with the startup animation to suit their preferences. It is a surprise that more automakers do not focus on this animation for their vehicles; it can be a great first impression piece and make the car immediately feel more luxurious.
Tesla has included this on more premium trims, but it is nice to see it on the Model 3 and Model Y.
Grok Improvements
Grok can now adjust more things in the car outside of the Navigation system. Now, drivers can adjust anything from climate to driving settings by simply speaking to the AI assistant in the car:
@Tesla‘s AI assistant (Grok) with its new vehicle commands in action.
Set the climate, your destination and vehicle settings all in one go! pic.twitter.com/0bBTqaAk6G
— Not a Tesla App (@NotATeslaApp) July 28, 2026
You don’t even have to push a button, either. Instead, you can just say “Hey, Grok,” if you have it enabled. That feature rolled out with the 2026 Spring Update just a few months back.
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This is a great feature, especially pertinent for the Robotaxi platform, as there will be no buttons inside the Cybercab when it eventually starts giving rides to the public. It also broadens Grok’s capabilities, which were relatively limited in terms of vehicle setting adjustments beforehand.
Tesla briefly offered one Robotaxi part in its Parts Catalog for your personal car, only to remove it just a short time after it was first noticed.
Tesla’s Robotaxi camera washer apparatus was briefly available for purchase on the company’s Online Parts Catalog. The camera washer was first noticed on Model Y Robotaxi vehicles about six months ago in Austin.
🚨 Tesla looks to have installed Camera Washers on the side repeater cameras on Robotaxis in Austin
pic.twitter.com/xemRtDtlRR— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
First noticed by Not a Tesla App, the Camera Washer entries appeared for the new “Juniper” Model Y under a category called “Halo,” which has also now disappeared. Interestingly, Halo probably is related to Tesla’s internal “Project Halo,” which was a project that aimed to retrofit customer-owned Model Ys into functional Robotaxis.
This hardware addition would likely be required for the vehicle to operate as a Robotaxi, as the Camera Washer seems to be a non-negotiable part of the vision-based system Tesla utilizes for self-driving efforts.
However, this part has since been removed and is no longer visible on the EPC.
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Now the true question lingers: Why would Tesla add this Camera Washer to the Model Y parts catalog? Is it planning to make it available for owners to utilize on their own cars for personal use, or will it become a prerequisite for Robotaxi operation in customer-owned cars?
While discussing the upgrade options for Hardware 3 vehicles during the Q1 Earnings Call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had said that the company could establish small, satellite shops that would upgrade cameras and self-driving computers. Perhaps this same strategy could be utilized for vehicles that want to be included in Robotaxi but do not have the correct hardware.
AI4 is currently represented as capable of unsupervised self-driving, and the same was said about HW3 at one point, only for Tesla to admit last quarter that it would, unfortunately, not be possible. Perhaps AI4 vehicles might need this camera washer as a prerequisite, just as HW3 cars will need that camera and computer upgrade.
This could be the first hint of that’s where we are headed.
Tesla has started rolling out a broader change to the ride experience for its Robotaxi fleet by silencing turn signals, but the change is certainly polarizing.
Tesla has generally made it clear that its purpose-built ride-hailing platform, Robotaxi, will cater to the rider in nearly every way possible. This includes having climate preferences, music, and other personal settings loaded up in the car as the rider enters.
But Tesla is taking it a step further by muting turn signal chimes altogether, a change that appears to be a way to make the ride more peaceful:
Tesla has finally turned off the blinker/turn signal noises in their Model Y Robotaxis.
This is a small update, but will definitely be noticeable for riders. It didn’t really make much sense to leave the turn signal sound on when it’s Unsupervised. pic.twitter.com/ITwx60PAMO
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 27, 2026
However, there are a handful of people who are not thrilled about this change. Turn signals are a conditioned part of the human mind for those who ride in a car regularly.
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Taking a turn without one feels strange and odd, and not hearing it click while activated could set off some alarms for riders, who might use the noise as confirmation that other drivers know of their intention to turn.
I kind of like it being on, threw me off when riding with Zoox who has had it disabled
— Dan Burkland (@DBurkland) July 27, 2026
Turn signal noises are still audible in customer cars, so if you use FSD in your personal vehicle, you will still hear the turn signal.
The move is certainly one that is unique, but not one that separates it from other ride-sharing services. In a normal car, the clicking sound confirms to the driver that the blinker is active. In a fully driverless Robotaxi, that feedback serves no purpose for passengers, other than peace of mind.
Tesla Summer Update begins rolling out: a look at the new features
Tesla briefly offered this Robotaxi part for your personal car
