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The Boring Company’s LVCC Loop can move over 8,000 people every hour, simulation shows

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The Boring Company’s Las Vegas Convention Center Loop tunnels may be capable of moving over 8,000 passengers per hour, and that may not even be the system’s full capacity. These findings were related in a recent simulation that was shared online, which depicted three operating scenarios for the upcoming high-speed tunnels. 

Using PTV Vissim software, a professional traffic simulation program, tunneling enthusiast Phil Harrison modeled how the LVCC Loop would work as a public transport service. The simulation utilized plans from The Boring Company’s official submissions to Clark County to depict the layout of the high-speed tunnels and stations as accurately as possible. 

Harrison took a fairly conservative approach, with the simulation capping the number of passengers allowed in each station at just 100 people. This is quite conservative and will likely be exceeded by real-world conditions in the actual LVCC Loop. The tunneling enthusiast described the simulation’s concept and design in his YouTube video’s description. 

“At each station, half the bays go to the one of the three stations and the other half to the other station. This allows for direct point to point travel. For each scenario, the input frequency of cars is increased and the maximum passengers allowed to collect in the platform area is 100. The biggest bottleneck is the pedestrian crossing at stations 1 and 3 so have added a theoretical signal and escalator,” Harrison wrote. 

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To determine the number of people that are moved per hour, the simulation counted the number of pedestrians that successfully exited a station over the space of 60 minutes. Three scenarios were explored in the simulation, and based on the results of each run, it appears that the LVCC Loop holds a lot of potential, showing a capacity to transport a good number of people per hour. 

In a “base case” scenario, which involves cars with three passengers traveling through the tunnels at 75 mph, moving around the stations at 9 mph, and dwelling in the loading bays for 60 seconds, the simulation achieved a throughput of 2,160 passengers per hour. Each trip averaged 72 seconds from one end of the LVCC Loop to the other. 

A second scenario employed a signaled pedestrian crossing, which allowed cars to navigate stations at 12 mph. Bay dwell time was adjusted to 45 seconds, and four passengers were allowed per vehicle. Under these scenarios, the simulation moved 4,320 passengers per hour, with trips taking an average of 58 seconds. 

A third scenario, fondly dubbed “maximum plaid,” featured a system that used escalators that led directly to the Las Vegas Convention Center. Station speeds were at 25 mph, and bay dwell times were listed at 30 seconds. Speeds of the Model 3s in the Loop system was also raised to 140 mph, and four passengers were allowed per vehicle. Under these circumstances, the simulation achieved an impressive throughput of 8,640 people per hour with average trips taking 42 seconds. 

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Watch a simulation of the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop tunnels in action in the video below. 

Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

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Ford is charging for a basic EV feature on the Mustang Mach-E

When ordering a new Ford Mustang Mach-E, you’ll now be hit with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

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Credit: Ford Motor Company

Ford is charging an additional fee for a basic EV feature on its Mustang Mach-E, its most popular electric vehicle offering.

Ford has shuttered its initial Model e program, but is venturing into a more controlled and refined effort, and it is abandoning the F-150 Lightning in favor of a new pickup that is currently under design, but appears to have some favorable features.

However, ordering a new Mustang Mach-E now comes with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

The frunk is the front trunk, and due to the lack of a large engine in the front of an electric vehicle, OEMs are able to offer additional storage space under the hood. There’s one problem, though, and that is that companies appear to be recognizing that they can remove it for free while offering the function for a fee.

Ford is charging $495 for the frunk.

Interestingly, the frunk size varies by vehicle, but the Mustang Mach-E features a 4.7 to 4.8 cubic-foot-sized frunk, which measures approximately 9 inches deep, 26 inches wide, and 14 inches high.

When the vehicle was first released, Ford marketed the frunk as the ultimate tailgating feature, showing it off as a perfect place to store and serve cold shrimp cocktail.

Ford Mach-E frunk is perfect for chowders and chicken wings, and we’re not even joking

It appears the decision to charge for what is a simple advantage of an EV is not going over well, as even Ford loyal customers say the frunk is a “basic expectation” of an EV. Without it, it seems as if fans feel the company is nickel-and-diming its customers.

It will be pretty interesting to see the Mach-E without a frunk, and while it should not be enough to turn people away from potentially buying the vehicle, it seems the decision to add an additional charge to include one will definitely annoy some customers.

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Tesla to improve one of its best features, coding shows

According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

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Credit: @jojje167 on X

Tesla is looking to upgrade its Matrix Headlights, a unique and high-tech feature that is available on several of its vehicles. The headlights aim to maximize visibility for Tesla drivers while being considerate of oncoming traffic.

The Matrix Headlights Tesla offers utilize dimming of individual light pixels to ensure that visibility stays high for those behind the wheel, while also being considerate of other cars by decreasing the brightness in areas where other cars are traveling.

Here’s what they look like in action:

As you can see, the Matrix headlight system intentionally dims the area where oncoming cars would be impacted by high beams. This keeps visibility at a maximum for everyone on the road, including those who could be hit with bright lights in their eyes.

There are still a handful of complaints from owners, however, but Tesla appears to be looking to resolve these with the coming updates in a Software Version that is currently labeled 2026.2.xxx. The coding was spotted by X user BERKANT:

According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

Finally, the new system will prevent the high beams from glaring back at the driver. The system is made to dim when it recognizes oncoming cars, but not necessarily objects that could produce glaring issues back at the driver.

Tesla’s revolutionary Matrix headlights are coming to the U.S.

This upgrade is software-focused, so there will not need to be any physical changes or upgrades made to Tesla vehicles that utilize the Matrix headlights currently.

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Elon Musk

xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

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Credit: xAI

Elon Musk’s xAI has signed an agreement with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to allow Grok to be used in classified military systems.

Previously, Anthropic’s Claude had been the only AI system approved for the most sensitive military work, but a dispute over usage safeguards has reportedly prompted the Pentagon to broaden its options, as noted in a report from Axios.

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

The publication reported that xAI agreed to the Pentagon’s requirement that its technology be usable for “all lawful purposes,” a standard Anthropic has reportedly resisted due to alleged ethical restrictions tied to mass surveillance and autonomous weapons use.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to meet with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in what sources expect to be a tense meeting, with the publication hinting that the Pentagon could designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk” if the company does not lift its safeguards. 

Axios stated that replacing Claude fully might be technically challenging even if xAI or other alternative AI systems take its place. That being said, other AI systems are already in use by the DoD. 

Grok already operates in the Pentagon’s unclassified systems alongside Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google is reportedly close to an agreement that will result in Gemini being used for classified use, while OpenAI’s progress toward classified deployment is described as slower but still feasible. 

The publication noted that the Pentagon continues talks with several AI companies as it prepares for potential changes in classified AI sourcing.

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