Connect with us
The-Boring-Company-San-Antonio-Loop The-Boring-Company-San-Antonio-Loop

News

The Boring Company offers additional $15M to finance San Antonio Loop 

(Credit: The Boring Company)

Published

on

The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (RMA) shared that Elon Musk’s The Boring Company (TBC) offered an additional $15 million to finance the San Antonio Loop. 

“That’s a lot of money that’s not coming from taxpayers to improve community transportation. I don’t see anybody else coming and giving us $50 million that’s not funding by taxpayers in some way, shape or form,” said Michael Lynd Jr.—chair of the Alamo RMA.

The Boring Company initially offered $27 million to $45 million to support the San Antonio Loop project financially. With the additional $15 million, the tunneling company raised its fund for the project to as much as $60 million. The funds will go towards the first phase of the San Antonio Loop. 

Board Secretary and Treasurer David Star believes that The Boring Company’s willingness to financially back the San Antonio project shows its credibility. 

“If the Boring Company is willing to put the money into a project to prove out the project and expose themselves for $50 million to $60 million to prove out the project, that should be some credibility,” noted Starr. 

Funding played a significant role in the Alamo RMA’s decision to pick The Boring Company’s San Antonio project over other transportation proposals presented to the Board. Staff-written documents revealed that Elon Musk’s tunneling company stated it would self-finance the entire project and turn it over to the Alamo RMA once the San Antonio Loop was complete.

TBC’s San Antonio Loop 

Lynd has repeatedly stated that the Alamo RMA does not have sufficient funds to financially support transportation projects needed to support a growing population in the San Antonio area. The Board mainly generates revenue from annual vehicle registrations, reported the San Antonio Express-News.

According to a presentation to the Alamo RMA earlier this year, The Boring Company’s San Antonio Loop is expected to generate a net revenue of $25 million per year. TBC’s San Antonio tunnel fares are estimated to be between $10 to $13 per passenger. 

TBC plans to build a one-way tunnel 7.6 miles long parallel to U.S. 281. However, the route of the tunnel may change as negotiations continue. The San Antonio Loop is estimated to accommodate 112,000 commuters daily and 15,750 passengers per hour from the airport to downtown with 350 Tesla vehicles. 

Know anything about the on-going negotiations between the Alamo RMA and The Boring Company? I’d like to hear from you. Contact 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 Theater might be getting plenty more streaming platforms

Published

on

Credit: YouTube/Tesla Theater

The in-car Tesla Theater is among the most unique features available within the cars. When charging, parked, camping, or just hanging out, vehicle occupants can access a variety of streaming platforms on the large center screen, helping keep them entertained during downtime.

However, the Theater might be getting plenty more streaming platforms, something that owners have requested for some time.

Tesla owners recently discovered that visiting Apple TV in the vehicle browser can launch a fullscreen interface that looks and behaves like a dedicated application rather than an ordinary webpage:

The experience drops the usual address bar and browser chrome, presenting catalogs, continue watching rows, and playback controls in the same window Tesla Theater already uses for its listed services. Independent testers soon found similar treatment for HBO Max, Paramount+, Peacock, Disney+, and Prime Video when those sites are opened from the car browser.

This shift is a plausible early signal that Tesla is widening Theater support without a formal software note. Theater has long been a set of web views rather than native applications, so recognizing extra domains and stripping the browser frame is a small server-side change that can expand the catalog quickly.

Owners still lack permanent Theater icons for the newly recognized services, and video remains limited to Park, yet the smoother launch is a meaningful step toward a broader lounge while charging.

Tesla Theater arrived with software version 10 in September 2019. The first video services were Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu, available only while parked and originally tied to WiFi. Spotify arrived in the same era as music rather than Theater video. Disney+ joined officially in July 2021 with the 2021.24 update, giving owners another major catalog on the center screen. Twitch and TikTok later appeared among the default Theater tiles, and Tesla Tutorials remained a persistent educational tile.

Not every addition stayed put. In December 2023, a Holiday software build removed the Disney+ tile for many United States owners after a public dispute involving advertising on X. Hulu stayed visible even though Disney owned it. Visiting disneyplus.com in the browser often restored the tile, which suggested the removal was a recognition list change rather than a complete block. Owners have also reported occasional blank Theater grids after updates, usually fixed by language toggles, resets, or later firmware.

Tesla axes Disney+ from vehicles with Musk-Iger rivalry, but there’s a workaround

Code archives from 2024 listed many unused source names, including Apple TV and Prime Video, that never became official icons, which now looks like groundwork for the current fullscreen browser behavior.

Now that this hint toward an expanded Theater experience has been recognized, Tesla could follow through with these additional shortcuts as a sign that more streaming platforms are available in Teslas than ever before.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla Semi’s biggest adoptee gives an update on production timeline

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla recently received its largest order for the all-electric Semi from Einride, a Swedish transport service, for 500 units, a groundbreaking invoice to receive before the first deliveries begin.

Even more remarkable, Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli said in a recent interview that he expects his company to take delivery of all 500 — the entire order — before the end of 2027. He even expects to have 75 Tesla Semi units in the Einride fleet before the end of this year.

Charli said the Tesla partnership was part of a broader push, along with its earlier partnership with Amazon. Einride is assisting Amazon with the use of its Saga AI platform, which helps eliminate questions about budgeting and forecasting for logistics companies.

The Semi, as well as Tesla’s production and subsequent delivery of the units to Einride, will help the company “to have a good supply of vehicles that we can deploy on the [Saga AI] platform,” Charli said. “Tesla is also a relationship we’ve had for a while, and as the Tesla Semi deliveries are firming up, we decided to do a larger commitment to that and deploy that on our platform.”

In its initial announcement, Einride said it anticipated taking delivery of the trucks over the next two years, but now it appears the company is expecting all 500 units within the next 16 months.

Tesla Semi gets its largest order yet

Built at a dedicated factory in Sparks, Nevada, the Tesla Semi has been perhaps the biggest and most intensive testing process the company has ever had for a single vehicle model. For the past several years, Tesla has been working with many companies, most notably Frito-Lay and PepsiCo, to gain knowledge on the performance on regional routes.

Tesla plans to launch the Semi officially on September 24, five months after production started ramping.

Additionally, drivers have said they are happy about the Semi’s performance and that its numerous safety and productivity features have made their jobs and routes much easier.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla Cybercab uses a unique strategy for picking up the right rider

Published

on

Credit: ARTSIMAGE | X

Tesla Cybercab is using a unique strategy for picking up the correct rider, which is a crucial part of ride-hailing to ensure people end up in the right place and are charged the correct price.

Cybercab will utilize an RGB strip in its front light bar that will illuminate in a variety of different colors to mark itself.

This identifying mark will also appear in the Robotaxi app, giving riders in the same location a notable distinction in an effort to avoid any confusion regarding who should get in each vehicle.

Other ride-hailing services use similar strategies: Lyft and Uber rides are recognizable through driver identity, vehicle type and color, as well as license plate. Waymo will display the rider’s initials on top of the vehicle, letting them know that the specific vehicle for them has arrived.

Tesla’s strategy is unique and interesting, but there are some flaws. Cybercab’s main purpose is aimed toward being an autonomous ride for all, including those who have disabilities like being blind or even color blind.

Tesla will likely have something in the pipeline for those who cannot see colors or have limited vision. There will definitely be multiple ways to identify which vehicle is the one that “you” specifically ordered.

Cybercab is set to start giving public rides next Thursday, September 3, in Austin, as it announced a dedicated event last week and invited many members of the Tesla community.

Tesla will launch Cybercab on September 3

Additionally, members of the public will be invited as well. Tesla has been offering employee rides in Cybercab for nearly two months.

Continue Reading