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The Boring Company’s initial fare prices for the greater Vegas Loop are released

(Credit: The Boring Company)

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The Boring Company has released the fare prices for the Vegas Loop, and they are quite reasonable. With enough optimization, it appears that Elon Musk’s tunneling startup may indeed have a shot at disrupting and revolutionizing the public transportation sector.

The recently finished Las Vegas Convention Center Loop is only one part of a more expansive Vegas Loop being planned for Sin City. While the LVCC Loop is only designed to take passengers from one end of the Las Vegas Convention Center to the other, the Vegas Loop is designed to function more like a conventional public transport system, ferrying passengers to multiple destinations around the city.

The planned Vegas Loop system. (Credit: The Boring Company)

The Boring Company has posted its initial estimated fares per vehicle for the upcoming Vegas Loop. According to the tunneling startup’s official website, trips from McCarran Airport to the LVCC, which cover a distance of 4.9 miles, would take about 5 minutes and cost $10 per vehicle. A trip from Allegiant Stadium to the Convention Center would cost $6 per vehicle, and a trip from downtown Las Vegas to the LVCC could cost $5 per car.

As remarked by members of the r/BoringCompany subreddit, the tunneling startup’s initial Vegas Loop prices are more affordable than ride-hailing services such as Lyft. As of April 13, Lyft charges about $14.19 for the McCarran to LVCC, $10.84 for the Allegiant Stadium to LVCC, and $10.91 for the downtown Las Vegas to LVCC route. It should also be noted that trips in the Vegas Loop would likely be much faster due to the vehicles traveling underground.

The Vegas Loop’s initial fares. (Credit: The Boring Company)

For now, the Loop system uses Teslas like Model 3s to ferry passengers from one point to another. But in a recent interview with local media, Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, hinted that plans are underway to eventually upgrade the LVCC Loop to vehicles capable of transporting 16 passengers at a time. With such vehicles in place, the Vegas Loop would likely be able to accommodate passengers at capacities closer to conventional mass transport solutions.

The Loop’s potential does not only lie in its fast travel times and reasonable fares. It is also one of the most affordable in the market. During the bidding period for the Convention Center transport project, the LVCC Loop proved the most affordable, requiring only $52.5 million to complete. This made it far cheaper than another shortlisted project, an aboveground transit system from Austria-based Doppelmayr Garaventa Group that was estimated to cost $215 million to complete.

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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.

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Ford is charging for a basic EV feature on the Mustang Mach-E

When ordering a new Ford Mustang Mach-E, you’ll now be hit with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

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Credit: Ford Motor Company

Ford is charging an additional fee for a basic EV feature on its Mustang Mach-E, its most popular electric vehicle offering.

Ford has shuttered its initial Model e program, but is venturing into a more controlled and refined effort, and it is abandoning the F-150 Lightning in favor of a new pickup that is currently under design, but appears to have some favorable features.

However, ordering a new Mustang Mach-E now comes with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

The frunk is the front trunk, and due to the lack of a large engine in the front of an electric vehicle, OEMs are able to offer additional storage space under the hood. There’s one problem, though, and that is that companies appear to be recognizing that they can remove it for free while offering the function for a fee.

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Ford is charging $495 for the frunk.

Interestingly, the frunk size varies by vehicle, but the Mustang Mach-E features a 4.7 to 4.8 cubic-foot-sized frunk, which measures approximately 9 inches deep, 26 inches wide, and 14 inches high.

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When the vehicle was first released, Ford marketed the frunk as the ultimate tailgating feature, showing it off as a perfect place to store and serve cold shrimp cocktail.

Ford Mach-E frunk is perfect for chowders and chicken wings, and we’re not even joking

It appears the decision to charge for what is a simple advantage of an EV is not going over well, as even Ford loyal customers say the frunk is a “basic expectation” of an EV. Without it, it seems as if fans feel the company is nickel-and-diming its customers.

It will be pretty interesting to see the Mach-E without a frunk, and while it should not be enough to turn people away from potentially buying the vehicle, it seems the decision to add an additional charge to include one will definitely annoy some customers.

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Tesla to improve one of its best features, coding shows

According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

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Credit: @jojje167 on X

Tesla is looking to upgrade its Matrix Headlights, a unique and high-tech feature that is available on several of its vehicles. The headlights aim to maximize visibility for Tesla drivers while being considerate of oncoming traffic.

The Matrix Headlights Tesla offers utilize dimming of individual light pixels to ensure that visibility stays high for those behind the wheel, while also being considerate of other cars by decreasing the brightness in areas where other cars are traveling.

Here’s what they look like in action:

As you can see, the Matrix headlight system intentionally dims the area where oncoming cars would be impacted by high beams. This keeps visibility at a maximum for everyone on the road, including those who could be hit with bright lights in their eyes.

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There are still a handful of complaints from owners, however, but Tesla appears to be looking to resolve these with the coming updates in a Software Version that is currently labeled 2026.2.xxx. The coding was spotted by X user BERKANT:

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According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

Finally, the new system will prevent the high beams from glaring back at the driver. The system is made to dim when it recognizes oncoming cars, but not necessarily objects that could produce glaring issues back at the driver.

Tesla’s revolutionary Matrix headlights are coming to the U.S.

This upgrade is software-focused, so there will not need to be any physical changes or upgrades made to Tesla vehicles that utilize the Matrix headlights currently.

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xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

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Credit: xAI

Elon Musk’s xAI has signed an agreement with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to allow Grok to be used in classified military systems.

Previously, Anthropic’s Claude had been the only AI system approved for the most sensitive military work, but a dispute over usage safeguards has reportedly prompted the Pentagon to broaden its options, as noted in a report from Axios.

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

The publication reported that xAI agreed to the Pentagon’s requirement that its technology be usable for “all lawful purposes,” a standard Anthropic has reportedly resisted due to alleged ethical restrictions tied to mass surveillance and autonomous weapons use.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to meet with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in what sources expect to be a tense meeting, with the publication hinting that the Pentagon could designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk” if the company does not lift its safeguards. 

Axios stated that replacing Claude fully might be technically challenging even if xAI or other alternative AI systems take its place. That being said, other AI systems are already in use by the DoD. 

Grok already operates in the Pentagon’s unclassified systems alongside Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google is reportedly close to an agreement that will result in Gemini being used for classified use, while OpenAI’s progress toward classified deployment is described as slower but still feasible. 

The publication noted that the Pentagon continues talks with several AI companies as it prepares for potential changes in classified AI sourcing.

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