News
Elon Musk’s Boring Company abandons one of its planned LA tunnel projects
As The Boring Company prepares to hold a public showing for its first completed tunnel this coming December 10, Elon Musk’s tunneling startup has revealed that it is dropping its plans to dig a tunnel under Sepulveda Blvd. on the Westside of LA. The company’s decision to abandon its project comes amidst its settlement with a group of Westside advocates who alleged that local government violated state law when it decided to exempt the Boring Company’s proof-of-concept tunnel from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
In a joint statement on Tuesday, The Boring Company, together with the plaintiffs of the case, stated that they have “amicably settled” the lawsuit. The terms of the two parties’ settlement remain confidential, though, as noted by an attorney for the Westside advocates to The San Diego Union-Tribune. With plans for the Sepulveda Blvd tunnel now abandoned, The Boring Co. would be focusing on building the Dugout Loop, a tunnel system connecting the Dodger Stadium and a Metro station, instead.
The legal opposition against the Sepulveda tunnel emerged last May, when two local neighborhood groups — the Brentwood Residents Coalition and the Sunset Coalition — filed a lawsuit, alleging that the project is actually part of a larger system of tunnels that would be used for public transportation in the future.
The tunneling startup was moving briskly through the permit process then, partly since The Boring Company noted that the tunnel would not be used to transport commuters, allowing the project to gain an exemption from environmental review. This was indicated on The Boring Company’s FAQ on its website.
“The tunnel would be used for construction logistics verification, system testing, safety testing, operating procedure verification, and line-switching demonstrations. Phase 1 would not be utilized for public transportation until the proof-of-process tunnel is deemed successful by County government, City government, and TBC.”
At the heart of the plaintiffs’ lawsuit was a map that The Boring Company released for its planned tunnel routes. Included in the proposed routes was a line that appeared to trace the route of the Sepulveda Blvd tunnel. In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs noted that “the state’s stringent environmental review requirements cannot be evaded by chopping large projects into smaller pieces that taken individually appear to have no significant environmental impacts.” The Westside advocates also voiced their disapproval of the city’s commission to approve a route that The Boring Company would use for hauling 80,000 cubic yards of dirt from the tunnel.
The Boring Company’s projects in LA’s Westside have attracted their own fair share of critics. When the advocates filed their lawsuit earlier this year, for one, Santa Monica City Manager Rick Cole aired his skepticism of the tunneling startup’s concept as a whole.
“We’ll have people stuck in traffic on the surface, and this miracle fast lane underground for the people who can afford it. It’ll be toll lanes on steroids,” he said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
While The Boring Company’s settlement with the Westside advocates is a notable roadblock to its projects in the LA area, the tunneling startup is nonetheless making progress on its other activities. The test tunnel under the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne is now getting refined and is set for public viewing on December 10, and the construction of a prototype garage-elevator that connects directly to a tunnel is seeing a lot of activity. Permits to establish The Brick Store, an outlet where Boring Bricks would be sold, have also been filed.
Apart from these, the tunneling startup is preparing to start its most ambitious project to date — the high-profile Chicago-O’Hare high-speed transport line, which is expected to begin construction soon. Updates about the project have been scarce so far, though photographs taken by Teslarati photographers Pauline Acalin and Tom Cross suggest that a gantry for the Chicago tunnel line, as well as what appears to be a next-generation Tunnel Boring Machine, is under construction.
News
Tesla utilizes its ‘Rave Cave’ for new awesome safety feature
Part of the massive interior overhaul of both the Model 3 “Highland” and Model Y “Juniper” was the addition of interior accent lighting to help bring out the mood of the vehicle, increase the customization of the interior, and to create a unique listening experience.
Tesla is utilizing its ‘Rave Cave’ for an awesome new safety feature that will arrive with the upcoming Spring Update for 2026.
Part of the massive interior overhaul of both the Model 3 “Highland” and Model Y “Juniper” was the addition of interior accent lighting to help bring out the mood of the vehicle, increase the customization of the interior, and to create a unique listening experience.
Tesla added a Sync Lights feature that will strobe the accent strips with the beat of the music.
It is one of the most unique and one of the coolest non-functional features of a Tesla, as it does not improve the driving of the vehicle, but makes it a cool and personal addition to the interior.
However, Tesla is going to take it one step further, as the Rave Cave lights will now be used for blind spot recognition. This feature will be added as the Spring 2026 Update starts to roll out.
A lot of CRAZY new features coming with Tesla’s 2026 Spring Update, including a new FSD app!
– Self-Driving App (AI4 hardware): New app in App Launcher > Self-Driving for one-tap FSD subscriptions, activation guides, and ongoing stats.
– “Hey Grok”: Voice-activated Grok with… https://t.co/ljeYPlq9Qt— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) April 13, 2026
Tesla writes:
“Accent lights now turn red when an object is in your blind spot and your turn signal is engaged, or when an approaching object is detected while parked.”
This neat new safety feature will now increase the likelihood of a driver, who is operating their Tesla manually, of seeing the blind spot warnings that are currently available on the A pillar and on the center touchscreen.
These new alerts will now warn drivers of cross traffic as they back out of a parking space with little to no visibility of what is coming. It is a great new addition that will only increase the safety of the vehicles, while also utilizing something that is already installed in these specific Model 3 and Model Y units.
The Model 3 and Model Y were the central focus of the Spring 2026 Update, especially considering the fact that the Model S and Model X are basically gone, with only a few hundred units left. Additionally, Tesla included new Immersive Sound and Car Visualization for the Model 3 and Model Y specifically in this new update.
News
Tesla parked 50+ Cybercabs outside its Texas Factory with some crash tested
Dozens of Tesla Cybercabs have been spotted at Giga Texas crash testing facility ahead of launch.
Drone footage captured by longtime Giga Texas observer Joe Tegtmeyer shows over 50 units of Tesla Cybercab at the Austin factory campus, including several units clustered by Tesla’s on-site crash testing facility.
The outbound lot at Gigafactory Texas sits just outside the factory exit and serves as the primary staging area where finished vehicles are held before being loaded onto transport carriers or dispatched for validation testing. On any given day, the lot holds a mix of Model Y and Cybertruck units alongside the growing Tesla Cybercab fleet, as can be seen in the drone footage captured by Joe Tegtmeyer.
Tesla Cybercab fleet spotted at Gigafactory Texas on April 13, 2026 [Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer)
Tesla Cybercab fleet spotted at Gigafactory Texas [Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer)
Tesla Cybercab crash test units spotted at Gigafactory Texas [Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer)
Tesla announced its Spring 2026 software update, and it’s the most feature-dense seasonal release the company has put out. The update covers twelve named changes spanning FSD, voice AI, safety lighting, dashcam storage, and pet display customization, among other things.
The centerpiece for owners with AI4 hardware is a redesigned Self-Driving app. The new interface lets owners subscribe to Full Self-Driving with a single tap and view ongoing FSD usage stats directly in the vehicle.
Grok gets its biggest in-car upgrade yet. The update adds a “Hey Grok” hands-free wake word along with location-based reminders, so a driver can now say “remind me to pick up groceries when I get home” without touching the screen. Grok first arrived in vehicles in July 2025, but each update has pushed it closer to genuine daily utility. Musk framed the broader vision clearly at Davos in January, saying Tesla is “really moving into a future that is based on autonomy.”
On safety, the update introduces enhanced blind spot warning lights that integrate directly with the cabin’s ambient lighting, building on the blind spot door warning that arrived in update 2026.8.
Dog Mode has been renamed Pet Mode and now lets owners choose a dog, cat, or hedgehog icon and add their pet’s name to the display.
Dashcam retention now extends up to 24 hours, up from the previous one-hour rolling loop, with a permanent save option for any clip. Weather maps now show rain and snow with better color differentiation and include the past hour of precipitation data along the route.
Tesla has now established a clear rhythm of two major OTA pushes per year. As with last year’s Spring update, that cycle started taking shape in 2025 with adaptive headlights and trunk customization. The 2025 Holiday Update then added Grok to the vehicle for the first time. This Spring follows that structure: the Holiday update introduces new architecture, and the Spring update broadens it across the fleet.
Two notable features still did not make it. IFTTT automations, which launched in China earlier this year, were held back from this North American release for unknown reasons, and Apple CarPlay remains absent, reportedly still delayed by iOS 26 and Apple Maps compatibility issues.
Below is the full list of feature updates released by Tesla.
— Tesla (@Tesla) April 13, 2026
Tesla utilizes its ‘Rave Cave’ for new awesome safety feature
Tesla parked 50+ Cybercabs outside its Texas Factory with some crash tested
