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Elon Musk’s Boring Company gets closer to Las Vegas tunnel with first approval

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The Boring Company’s Las Vegas tunnel has taken a step forward, after the board of directors for the city’s Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) recently voted in favor of the tunneling startup and its proposed 2-mile people-mover project.

The proposed Las Vegas transport line involves digging a series of underground tunnels that could carry passengers around the LVCVA’s campus. The 2-mile tunnel would initially encompass the convention center, but if successful, it could be expanded to other points in the city such as McCarran International Airport. The tunneling startup expects the initial project to cost somewhere along the range of $35 million and $55 million.

Steve Hill, LVCVA’s president and CEO, expects The Boring Company’s transport tunnel could serve a purpose beyond just transporting visitors from one point in the campus to another. “I think the system is an attraction in and of itself,” Hill said in a statement to The Verge.

Initial goals for the project point to the transit system being fully functional before the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2021, though Elon Musk has expressed has stated on Twitter that the transport system could be operational by the end of the year.

A project such as the Las Vegas transport line is practically tailor-fit for a tunneling startup like The Boring Company. At just two miles long, the project is not too far from the scale of the company’s test tunnel in Hawthorne, CA, which is just over one mile long and constructed using Godot, a conventional tunnel boring machine. With further optimizations in its tunneling processes and the deployment of Line-Storm (a hybrid TBM that employs both conventional and electric systems), the Las Vegas tunnel could be completed well within the project’s ambitious timeframe and cost.

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The location of the project will be advantageous for the tunneling startup as well, since Las Vegas is only a few hundred miles away from The Boring Company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, CA. This will allow the tunneling startup to immediately address any issues that could arise while the transport line is being constructed.

The Las Vegas transport line could very well become The Boring Company’s first commercial undertaking. While the startup is involved in several high-profile projects, some of its initiatives, such as the Chicago-O’Hare transport line, have been met with political headwinds. Amidst the impending departure of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who was widely supportive of the high-speed transport project, several candidates in the mayoral elections have begun to call for a re-evaluation of the tunneling startup’s plans.

For Boring Company President Steve Davis, the Las Vegas tunnel provides a good balance of simplicity and scale. “It’s simpler than some of our other projects. When people come and use this system, they’ll like it or not like it, and if they like it there are useful places to go,” he said.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Cybertruck

Tesla Cybertruck undergoes interior mod that many owners wanted

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tesla cybertruck diy bench seat
Credit: @blueskykites | X

Tesla Cybertruck is significantly different from traditional pickups on the market in a lot of ways. However, one feature that was recently modified with its interior was a highly requested characteristic that is present in other trucks, but was void from Cybertruck.

Tesla went with a five-seat configuration with Cybertruck: two in the front and three in the back. The spacious interior is matched with plenty of storage, especially up front, as a pass-through, center console, and other storage options, but some Tesla fans wanted something different: bench seating.

Bench seating is popular in many full-size pickups and allows three passengers to sit up front. The middle seat is usually accompanied by a fold-down storage unit with cupholders.

Tesla decided to opt for no bench seating up front, despite the fact that it equipped bench seating in the unveiling in 2019. Interior photos from the unveiling event from nearly six-and-a-half years ago show Tesla had originally planned to have a six-seat configuration.

This was adjusted after the company refined the design:

tesla cybertruck initial interior

(Tesla Cybertruck interior configuration in 2019)

Despite Tesla abandoning this design, it does not mean owners were willing to accept it. One owner decided to modify their Tesla Cybertruck interior to equip that third seat between the driver’s and passenger’s thrones.

The fit is snug, and while it looks great, it is important to remember that this does not abide byregulations, as it would require an airbag to be technically legal. Please do not do this at home with your own Cybertruck:

The Cybertruck is a popular vehicle in terms of publicity, but its sales have been underwhelming since first delivered to customers back in 2023. It’s hard to believe it’s been out for two-and-a-half years, but despite this, Tesla has not been able to come through on its extensive order sheet.

This is mostly due to price, as Cybertruck was simply not as affordable as Tesla originally planned. Its three configurations were initially priced at $39,990, $49,990, and $69,990. At release, Cybertruck was priced above $100,000.

This priced out many of those who had placed orders, which is the main reason Cybertruck has not lived up to its expectations in terms of sales. The adjustments to the specific features, like the removal of the bench seat, likely did not impact sales as much as pricing did.

This modification shows some creativity by Tesla owners, but also shows that the Cybertruck could always be the subject of a potential refresh to include some of these features. Tesla routinely adjusts its vehicle designs every few years, so maybe the Cybertruck could get something like this if it chooses to refresh its all-electric pickup.

 

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Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk drops massive bomb about Cybercab

“And there is so much to this car that is not obvious on the surface,” Musk said.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk dropped a massive bomb about the Cybercab, which is the company’s fully autonomous ride-hailing vehicle that will enter production later this year.

The Cybercab was unveiled back in October 2024 at the company’s “We, Robot” event in Los Angeles, and is among the major catalysts for the company’s growth in the coming years. It is expected to push Tesla into a major growth phase, especially as the automaker is transitioning into more of an AI and Robotics company than anything else.

The Cybercab will enable completely autonomous ride-hailing for Tesla, and although its other vehicles will also be capable of this technology, the Cybercab is slightly different. It will have no steering wheel or pedals, and will allow two occupants to travel from Point A to Point B with zero responsibilities within the car.

Tesla shares epic 2025 recap video, confirms start of Cybercab production

Details on the Cybercab are pretty face value at this point: we know Tesla is enabling 1-2 passengers to ride in it at a time, and this strategy was based on statistics that show most ride-hailing trips have no more than two occupants. It will also have in-vehicle entertainment options accessible from the center touchscreen.

It will also have wireless charging capabilities, which were displayed at “We, Robot,” and there could be more features that will be highly beneficial to riders, offering a full-fledged autonomous experience.

Musk dropped a big hint that there is much more to the Cybercab than what we know, as a post on X said that “there is so much to this car that is not obvious on the surface.”

As the Cybercab is expected to enter production later this year, Tesla is surely going to include a handful of things they have not yet revealed to the public.

Musk seems to be indicating that some of the features will make it even more groundbreaking, and the idea is to enable a truly autonomous experience from start to finish for riders. Everything from climate control to emergency systems, and more, should be included with the car.

It seems more likely than not that Tesla will make the Cybercab its smartest vehicle so far, as if its current lineup is not already extremely intelligent, user-friendly, and intuitive.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla Q4 delivery numbers are better than they initially look: analyst

The Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner shared his thoughts in a post on his website.

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Credit: Tesla Asia/X

Longtime Tesla analyst and Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner Gene Munster has shared his insights on Tesla’s Q4 2025 deliveries. As per the analyst, Tesla’s numbers are actually better than they first appear. 

Munster shared his thoughts in a post on his website. 

Normalized December Deliveries

Munster noted that Tesla delivered 418k vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2025, slightly below Street expectations of 420k but above the whisper number of 415k. Tesla’s reported 16% year-over-year decline, compared to +7% in September, is largely distorted by the timing of the tax credit expiration, which pulled forward demand.

“Taking a step back, we believe September deliveries pulled forward approximately 55k units that would have otherwise occurred in December or March. For simplicity, we assume the entire pull-forward impacted the December quarter. Under this assumption, September growth would have been down ~5% absent the 55k pull-forward, a Deepwater estimate tied to the credit’s expiration.

For December deliveries to have declined ~5% year over year would imply total deliveries of roughly 470k. Subtracting the 55k units pulled into September results in an implied December delivery figure of approximately 415k. The reported 418k suggests that, when normalizing for the tax credit timing, quarter-over-quarter growth has been consistently down ~5%. Importantly, this ~5% decline represents an improvement from the ~13% declines seen in both the March and June 2025 quarters.

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Tesla’s United States market share

Munster also estimated that Q4 as a whole might very well show a notable improvement in Tesla’s market share in the United States. 

“Over the past couple of years, based on data from Cox Automotive, Tesla has been losing U.S. EV market share, declining to just under 50%. Based on data for October and November, Cox estimates that total U.S. EV sales were down approximately 35%, compared to Tesla’s just reported down 16% for the full quarter.  For the first two months of the quarter, Cox reported Tesla market share of roughly a 65% share, up from under 50% in the September quarter.

“While this data excludes December, the quarter as a whole is likely to show a material improvement in Tesla’s U.S. EV market share.

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