Connect with us

News

Elon Musk’s Boring Company breaks ground for garage-elevator construction

[Credit: Tom Cross/Teslarati]

Published

7 years ago

on

Last month, Elon Musk’s tunneling startup, The Boring Company, was granted an approval by the city council of Hawthorne, CA to build a prototype garage-elevator concept that would be linked to one of the company’s high-speed tunnels. Recent photos from Teslarati photographers Tom Cross and Pauline Acalin reveal that construction of the prototype elevator concept has already begun.

The Boring Company’s prototype garage-elevator is being built west of SpaceX’s Hawthorne facility. The location of the futuristic garage is no accident, as the startup plans to have cars enter the tunnel from the SpaceX campus, move through the tunnel and on to the garage-elevator, and then travel back to SpaceX as part of the concept’s tests. Adopting such a process allows The Boring Co. to avoid creating additional traffic on the street.

Photos captured by Teslarati photographers reveal that The Boring Company has broken ground on the site of its recently-announced garage-elevator. While the startup has not officially announced that the construction corresponds to the planned elevator concept, the site’s location on 120th St. near Prairie Avenue matches the address of the project that the company confirmed to The Mercury Times last month. Furthermore, the pit’s sheer scale fits well with the company’s plans to dig a hole to extract segments of its tunnel boring machine (TBM).

The site of the Boring Company’s excavation for its garage-elevator prototype. [Credit: Tom Cross and Pauline Acalin/Teslarati]

Looking at the images of the construction in progress, it appears that the hole being excavated is around 30 feet or more in diameter. This is quite substantial, considering that graphics provided by the tunneling startup show the garage-elevator transporting cars one at a time. As noted by AutomobileElevator, a company in the business of providing car elevators, lifts that are designed for large vehicles like full-sized SUVs usually have dimensions of 9.3 x 20 x 7 feet – significantly smaller than the pit in the Boring Company’s ongoing excavation. With this in mind, it appears that the tunneling startup’s garage-elevator, once complete, would have enough space to accommodate large mainstream vehicles like full-sized SUVs and trucks.

The Boring Company’s proposed prototype garage-elevator concept. [Credit: The Boring Company]

In a comment about the garage-elevator, Boring Company representative Jane Labanowski noted that the prototype concept would be an essential part of the tunneling startup’s vision for the future. The garage-elevator, if any, would serve as convenient entry point for the company’s high-speed tunnel system, particularly for those in residential areas.

“It’s an important part of the longer-term vision the company is trying to build,” she said.

The Boring Company might be a newcomer in the transportation industry that is more well-known for its quirky merchandise such as the Boring Company Not-a-Flamethrower, but the tunneling startup is already starting to gain contracts for high-profile projects. Earlier this year, for example, the Boring Company won a contract for the construction of the downtown Chicago-O’Hare high-speed transport line, beating larger, more experienced conglomerates which were also bidding on the project. The Chicago project would feature the Loop system, which features Tesla-made fully-electric pods capable of transporting up to 16 people at a time at speed of up to 150 mph.

Related Topics:

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.

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

Tesla to increase Full Self-Driving subscription price: here’s when

Published

4 hours ago

on

January 24, 2026

By

Credit: Tesla

Tesla will increase its Full Self-Driving subscription price, meaning it will eventually be more than the current $99 per month price tag it has right now.

Already stating that the ability to purchase the suite outright will be removed, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said earlier this week that the Full Self-Driving subscription price would increase when its capabilities improve:

“I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve. The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD).”

This was an expected change, especially as Tesla has been hinting for some time that it is approaching a feature-complete version of Full Self-Driving that will no longer require driver supervision. However, with the increase, some are concerned that they may be priced out.

$99 per month is already a tough ask for some. While Full Self-Driving is definitely worth it just due to the capabilities, not every driver is ready to add potentially 50 percent to their car payment each month to have it.

While Tesla has not revealed any target price for FSD, it does seem that it will go up to at least $150.

Additionally, the ability to purchase the suite outright is also being eliminated on February 14, which gives owners another reason to be slightly concerned about whether they will be able to afford to continue paying for Full Self-Driving in any capacity.

Advertisement

Some owners have requested a tiered program, which would allow people to pay for the capabilities they want at a discounted price.

Unsupervised FSD would be the most expensive, and although the company started removing Autopilot from some vehicles, it seems a Supervised FSD suite would still attract people to pay between $49 and $99 per month, as it is very useful.

Tesla will likely release pricing for the Unsupervised suite when it is available, but price increases could still come to the Supervised version as things improve.

This is not the first time Musk has hinted that the price would change with capability improvements, either. He’s been saying it for some time. In 2020, he even said the value of FSD would “probably be somewhere in excess of $100,000.”

Continue Reading

News

Tesla starts removing outright Full Self-Driving purchase option at time of order

Published

7 hours ago

on

January 24, 2026

By

(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla has chosen to axe the ability to purchase Full Self-Driving outright from a select group of cars just days after CEO Elon Musk announced the company had plans to eliminate that option in February.

The company is making a clear-cut stand that it will fully transition away from the ability to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright, a move that has brought differing opinions throughout the Tesla community.

Earlier this week, the company also announced that it will no longer allow buyers to purchase Full Self-Driving outright when ordering a pre-owned vehicle from inventory. Instead, that will be available for $99 per month, the same price that it costs for everyone else.

The ability to buy the suite for $8,000 for a one-time fee at the time of order has been removed:

This is a major move because it is the first time Tesla is eliminating the ability to purchase FSD outright for one flat fee to any of its vehicles, at least at the time of purchase.

It is trying to phase out the outright purchase option as much as it can, preparing people for the subscription-based service it will exclusively offer starting on February 14.

In less than a month, it won’t be available on any vehicle, which has truly driven some serious conversation from Tesla owners throughout the community.

There’s a conflict, because many believe that they will now lose the ability to buy FSD and not pay for it monthly, which is an attractive offer. However, others believe, despite paying $8,000 for FSD, that they will have to pay more money on top of that cost to get the unsupervised suite.

Advertisement

Additionally, CEO Elon Musk said that the FSD suite’s subscription price would increase over time as capabilities increase, which is understandable, but is also quite a conflict for those who spent thousands to have what was once promised to them, and now they may have to pay even more money.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature not available on typical Model Ys

These camera washers are crucial for keeping the operation going, as they are the sole way Teslas operate autonomously. The cameras act as eyes for the car to drive, recognize speed limit and traffic signs, and travel safely.

Published

11 hours ago

on

January 24, 2026

By

Credit: David Moss | X

Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature that is not available on typical Model Ys that people like you and me bring home after we buy them. The feature is something that many have been wanting for years, especially after the company adopted a vision-only approach to self-driving.

After Tesla launched driverless Robotaxi rides to the public earlier this week in Austin, people have been traveling to the Lone Star State in an effort to hopefully snag a ride from one of the few vehicles in the fleet that are now no longer required to have Safety Monitors present.

BREAKING: Tesla launches public Robotaxi rides in Austin with no Safety Monitor

Although only a few of those completely driverless rides are available, there have been some new things seen on these cars that are additions from regular Model Ys, including the presence of one new feature: camera washers.

With the Model Y, there has been a front camera washer, but the other exterior “eyes” have been void of any solution for this. For now, owners are required to clean them manually.

In Austin, Tesla is doing things differently. It is now utilizing camera washers on the side repeater and rear bumper cameras, which will keep the cameras clean and keep operation as smooth and as uninterrupted as possible:

Advertisement

These camera washers are crucial for keeping the operation going, as they are the sole way Teslas operate autonomously. The cameras act as eyes for the car to drive, recognize speed limit and traffic signs, and travel safely.

This is the first time we are seeing them, so it seems as if Safety Monitors might have been responsible for keeping the lenses clean and unobstructed previously.

However, as Tesla transitions to a fully autonomous self-driving suite and Robotaxi expands to more vehicles in the Robotaxi fleet, it needed to find a way to clean the cameras without any manual intervention, at least for a short period, until they can return for interior and exterior washing.

Continue Reading