Connect with us

News

The Boring Company Las Olas Loop proposal moves forward after favorable votes from Fort Lauderdale

Credit: @ClarkCountyNV | Twitter

Published

on

On Wednesday, the Fort Lauderdale Commission voted 4-1 to proceed with The Boring Company’s Las Olas Loop proposal. The favorable vote allows The Boring Company (TBC) to start more detailed negotiations with Fort Lauderdale about the Las Olas Loop. 

The Commission had a few questions about TBC’s proposed project in Fort Lauderdale, which City Manager Chris Lagerbloom answered. Based on the Commission’s meeting records, The Boring Company can now start negotiations with the city regarding logistics, environmental impact, and regulatory requirements, to name a few. 

According to Lagerbloom, the recent vote states that Fort Lauderdale was still interested in pursuing The Boring Company’s proposal for a Las Olas Loop, and the tunneling company has met all procedural requirements. The city could discuss a potential interim agreement or comprehensive agreement with The Boring Company now that the resolution has passed. The city and TBC may also discuss regulatory requirements from the federal government, state, and county. 

“The next step is to accept the proposal, and to now negotiate an agreement which we can now move forward to talk about the terms, the conditions, financing, and the technological aspects moving forward as they continue to examine the underground infrastructure and how they’re best going to be able to proceed with the project,” Trantalis told Local 10.

Based on Lagerbloom’s answers, the Las Olas Loop proposal still needs to go through a lengthy process before reaching fruition. An interim agreement would indicate that the city was half committed to the project as it would probably include specifics on monetary funding. The city would show its full commitment to the Las Olas Loop project once it approved a comprehensive agreement with The Boring Company. 

From Lagerbloom’s perspective, the tunneling startup seems excited about Fort Lauderdale’s Las Olas Loop. 

Advertisement
-->

“[The Boring Company has] been very open, very accessible, easy to get to. [The company] has indicated to me that of all the projects they’ve worked on, that they have the most interest in Fort Lauderdale [because they] still think it’s a very viable project. They’re excited about it as an organization, as a company. So they haven’t lost any interest that I’ve been able to detect at all,” Lagerbloom told the Commission.

In July, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean J. Trantalis announced that the city formally accepted The Boring Company’s proposal for the Las Olas Loop. Initially, TBC talked to Fort Lauderdale officials about a small-scale project in New River. But the tunneling company pitched a bigger tunnel after continued conversations with city officials. 

“We see more and more cars on the road,” said Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis. “You have to find alternative methods of trying to deal with traffic. And I think this is an exciting opportunity for the city,” said the Mayor about the project.

The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. If you have any tips, reach out to me at maria@teslarati.com or via Twitter @Writer_01001101

Advertisement
-->

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.

Advertisement
Comments

News

Tesla gamifies Supercharging with new ‘Charging Passport’

It will also include things like badges for special charging spots, among other metrics that will show all of the different places people have traveled to plug in for range.

Published

on

Credit: MarcoRP | X

Tesla is gamifying its Supercharging experience by offering a new “Charging Passport,” hoping to add a new layer to the ownership experience.

While it is not part of the Holiday Update, it is rolling out around the same time and offers a handful of cool new features.

Tesla’s Charging Passport will be available within the smartphone app and will give a yearly summary of your charging experience, helping encapsulate your travel for that year.

It will also include things like badges for special charging spots, among other metrics that will show all of the different places people have traveled to plug in for range.

Tesla will include the following metrics within the new Charging Passport option within the Tesla app:

  • Charging badges: Iconic charging badges for visiting places like the Tesla Diner, Oasis Supercharger, etc., Explorer Badge, and more
  • Total Unique Superchargers Visited
  • Total Charging Sessions
  • Total Miles Added during Charging Sessions
  • Top Charging Day
  • Longest Trip
  • Favorite Charging Locations

This will give people a unique way to see their travels throughout the year, and although it is not necessarily something that is needed or adds any genuine value, it is something that many owners will like to look back on. After all, things like Spotify Wrapped and Apple Music Replay have been a great way for people to see what music they listened to throughout the year.

This is essentially Tesla’s version of that.

With a handful of unique Superchargers already active, Tesla is also building some new ones, like a UFO-inspired location in New Mexico, near Roswell.

Tesla is building a new UFO-inspired Supercharger in the heart of Alien country

Continue Reading

News

Tesla launches its coolest gift idea ever just a few weeks after it was announced

“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention.”

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla has launched its coolest gift idea ever, just a few weeks after it was announced.

Tesla is now giving owners the opportunity to gift Full Self-Driving for one month to friends or family through a new gifting program that was suggested to the company last month.

The program will enable people to send a fellow Tesla owner one month of the company’s semi-autonomous driving software, helping them to experience the Full Self-Driving suite and potentially help Tesla gain them as a subscriber of the program, or even an outright purchase.

Tesla has officially launched the program on its Shop. Sending one month of Full Self-Driving costs $112:

“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention. All sales are final. Can only be purchased and redeemed in the U.S. This gift card is valued at $112.00 and is intended to cover the price of one month of FSD (Supervised), including up to 13% sales tax. It is not guaranteed to cover the full monthly price if pricing or tax rates change. This gift card can be stored in Tesla Wallet and redeemed toward FSD (Supervised) or any other Tesla product or service that accepts gift card payments.”

Tesla has done a great job of expanding Full Self-Driving access over the past few years, especially by offering things like the Subscription program, free trials through referrals, and now this gift card program.

Gifting Full Self-Driving is another iteration of Tesla’s “butts in seats” strategy, which is its belief that it can flip consumers to its vehicles and products by simply letting people experience them.

There is also a reason behind pushing Full Self-Driving so hard, and it has to do with CEO Elon Musk’s compensation package. One tranche requires Musk to achieve a certain number of active paid Full Self-Driving subscriptions.

More people who try the suite are likely to pay for it over the long term.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla expands Robotaxi app access once again, this time on a global scale

Tesla said recently it plans to launch Robotaxi in Miami, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Dallas.

Published

on

Credit: Grok

Tesla has expanded Robotaxi app access once again, but this time, it’s on a much broader scale as the company is offering the opportunity for those outside of North America to download the app.

Tesla Robotaxi is the company’s early-stage ride-hailing platform that is active in Texas, California, and Arizona, with more expansion within the United States planned for the near future.

Tesla said recently it plans to launch Robotaxi in Miami, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Dallas.

The platform has massive potential, and Tesla is leaning on it to be a major contributor to even more disruption in the passenger transportation industry. So far, it has driven over 550,000 miles in total, with the vast majority of this coming from the Bay Area and Austin.

First Look at Tesla’s Robotaxi App: features, design, and more

However, Tesla is focusing primarily on rapid expansion, but most of this is reliant on the company’s ability to gain regulatory permission to operate the platform in various regions. The expansion plans go well outside of the U.S., as the company expanded the ability to download the app to more regions this past weekend.

So far, these are the areas it is available to download in:

  • Japan
  • Thailand
  • Hong Kong
  • South Korea
  • Australia
  • Taiwan
  • Macau
  • New Zealand
  • Mexico
  • U.S.
  • Canada

Right now, while Tesla is focusing primarily on expansion, it is also working on other goals that have to do with making it more widely available to customers who want to grab a ride from a driverless vehicle.

One of the biggest goals it has is to eliminate safety monitors from its vehicles, which it currently utilizes in Austin in the passenger’s seat and in the driver’s seat in the Bay Area.

A few weeks ago, Tesla started implementing a new in-cabin data-sharing system, which will help support teams assist riders without anyone in the front of the car.

Tesla takes a step towards removal of Robotaxi service’s safety drivers

As Robotaxi expands into more regions, Tesla stands to gain tremendously through the deployment of the Full Self-Driving suite for personal cars, as well as driverless Robotaxis for those who are just hailing rides.

Things have gone well for Tesla in the early stages of the Robotaxi program, but expansion will truly be the test of how things operate going forward. Navigating local traffic laws and gaining approval from a regulatory standpoint will be the biggest hurdle to jump.

Continue Reading