News
Musk’s Boring Co reveals plan to support Hyperloop in published FAQ
Elon Musk’s plan to integrate Tesla electric sleds traveling through underground tunnels dug by The Boring Company will also include support for vacuum-sealed tunnels used by 600+ mph Hyperloop Pods.
The reveal comes from the company’s newly published Frequently Asked Questions page that does away with introductions and cuts straight to the chase.
“A large network of road tunnels many levels deep would fix congestion in any city, no matter how large it grew (just keep adding levels). The key to making this work is increasing tunneling speed and dropping costs by a factor of 10 or more – this is the goal of The Boring Company. Fast to dig, low cost tunnels would also make Hyperloop adoption viable and enable rapid transit across densely populated regions, enabling travel from New York to Washington DC in less than 30 minutes.” reads the FAQ.
The company isn’t even traveling at a snail’s pace, yet it has big plans to do just that – dig tunnels faster than a snail travels. In this case, resident snail Gary (who lives in a pineapple under the sea) can move at 14 times the speed of a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) and represents the target speed for the company’s boring machines.
The Boring Company’s pet snail named Gary
The Framework for Hyperloop
The FAQ sheet broke news that Musk and the team at The Boring Company, in cooperation with Tesla, are planning to build tunnels that can support multi-payloads including that of a Hyperloop Pod. In addition to enabling travel and transport at much higher speeds, this addition is likely to set the Tesla electric sled platform as the standard track that will be used to support mobility of the Hyperloop Pod.
Certain segments of the underground tunnels will have a vacuum shell, if not the entire track, that will allow the tunnel to be held at vacuum. Long distance travel would likely be performed in tunnels held at vacuum, enabling for higher speeds of travel. This format of local versus long distance is the same used by train systems in Europe that have different trains and tracks depending on train speed and distance of travel.
Converts Internal Combustion Vehicles into EVs
Another upside of the system is that it enables the conversion of internal combustion vehicles into zero emission vehicles. When a traditional petroleum powered vehicle is moved onto an electric sled, it will be moved through a system that emits zero emissions. This eliminates the emissions these vehicles would have emitted if they would had ordinarily travelled by road to their destination.
Many people will take Hyperloop Pods to their destinations due to the lower cost of travel. Logistics companies will also shift payload transportation to the tunnel system due to the lower cost as a result of not having a driver, higher speed and automated control over the load. With all of this traffic moving to the conceptual tunnel-based transportation system, it has the potential to radically slash the amount of transportation related emissions and demand for fossil fuels.
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If the petroleum industry wasn’t paying attention to Musk and the impact Tesla may have on automotive related fuel consumption, this announcement is surely the wake up call they needed.
Earthquake!
Hollywood thrillers over the years have cast subway systems as the perfect set for apocalyptic thrillers where only a muscular hero armed with backpack full of lithium ion batteries, a stick of bubblegum and the copper from the wiring for the lights can save the day.
The truth, it turns out, is much different. The FAQs relay the facts that structural engineers have know for ages – that properly designed tunnels are one of the safest places to be during an earthquake. The tunnels is not subject to surface forces and instead of resisting the movement of the earthquake, moves with the ground.
Dirty Business
When tunneling in the Minecraft video game, the tunnel materializes and the blocks smashed with a pickaxe or sword simply disappear or move into inventory. The real world is unfortunately not so simple, but The Boring Company has plans to make it just a bit more like Minecraft.
Two major challenges with traditional tunneling are the massive amount of earth being displaced by the tunnel and the equally as challenging amount of concrete that is required to seal the circumference of the tunnel. To solve these challenges together, The Boring Company hopes to develop a process for using the resulting soil to produce earthen bricks. These bricks could even be used as a component of the tunnel lining itself or simply sold as a product.
This is yet another piece of evidence that Tesla truly is attempting to create Minecraft in the real world, reviving the ancient practice of crafting bricks from dirt.
In addition to turning a liability into an asset, this has the potential to drastically cut the amount of concrete used in the production of the tunnels it is constructing. Because of the sheer mass of concrete and the effort required to extract its components, and ship them to the destination, concrete production accounts for a staggering 4.5% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. The Boring Company hopes to take a chunk out of those emissions by using bricks where possible in the construction of its tunnels.
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Where The Boring Company will go from here is anyone’s guess but this latest update makes it clear that Musk is never willing to settle for the status quo, and always begins working from the ground up – or in this case, from the ground down – when moving into a new business.
Tesla Energy has introduced the Powerwall Lease in conjunction with Tesla Electric, making the service available in Texas. This new option delivers whole-home backup power using two Powerwall units for a net monthly cost of $35 after credits, accompanied by a low fixed electricity rate.
Under the lease terms, customers pay a one-time order fee of $100. The base lease payment for the two Powerwalls is approximately $122 per month during the first year, subject to a 3 percent annual escalator thereafter. Enrollment in a qualifying Tesla Electric Backup plan or Virtual Power Plant plan provides an $87 monthly credit.
Powerwall Lease is now available with Tesla Electric in Texas
Whole-home backup for $35/month, with a low fixed electricity rate
– Two Powerwalls, $0 installation
– Storm Watch outage protection
– One app to manage it all pic.twitter.com/oTzqc6K3aF— Tesla Energy (@teslaenergy) August 13, 2026
This credit lowers the effective cost to roughly $35 per month plus applicable tax.
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Installation of the standard system carries no additional charge. The package features Storm Watch for outage protection and allows complete management through a single Tesla application. The system supplies continuous whole-home backup capability.
The Powerwall system enables households to maintain electricity during severe storms that disrupt the utility grid. When outages occur, the batteries automatically provide seamless backup power to the home.
Tesla announces 100k Powerwalls are participating in Virtual Power Plants
Tesla Storm Watch monitors weather forecasts and ensures the units are fully charged ahead of anticipated severe weather events so that power remains available throughout the disruption, keeping lights, refrigeration, and other essential systems operating without interruption.
Availability is restricted to select Texas locations where retail electric choice exists. Participants must lease exactly two Powerwall units and maintain continuous enrollment with Tesla Electric. Solar panels cannot be included under this particular lease arrangement.
The monthly credit activates automatically once the system is installed, receives permission to operate, and enrollment is confirmed. To retain the credit, customers are required to stay enrolled in Tesla Electric and fulfill all program conditions.
Nonstandard installations that involve electrical upgrades or special permitting may lead to extra expenses and might impact eligibility for the credit, so be sure to check with either your installer or Tesla to ensure you will still qualify.
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Elon Musk continues to tease the unveiling event for the Tesla Roadster, a continuing trend that has grown into a bigger game of “When” for fans who have been waiting years for the car to finally enter production.
A video shared on X of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that Musk appeared on last year, teasing the Roadster unveiling, was shared once again on the social media platform. The poster said the Roadster event will be “unforgettable.”
Musk agreed:
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2026
The timing is interesting because just yesterday, Musk said that we will be getting flying cars, and for years, Tesla has hinted that it could develop a SpaceX cold gas thruster package that would help the car float or fly for a short period of time.
It would be reasonable to assume Tesla’s major delays with this unveiling event are likely caused by the company’s need to break the rules and push the envelope on nearly everything. Last July, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, said:
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“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind blowing. We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on and he got a little excited.”
The latest updates that Tesla has given us are that the Roadster is in design development, and it did have several potential dates for an unveiling event this year, including April. It was then pushed to August.
However, there are no clues as to when Tesla will be ready, and fans are certainly getting frustrated with the delays.
For what it is worth, Franz von Holzhausen told Jay Leno this week that the event would be “very soon.”
We sure hope.
Lifestyle
Tesla’s driverless Cybercab just passed a big test with State Governor
Florida’s governor rode Tesla’s Cybercab at a closed test track and called the experience impressive.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rode in a Tesla Cybercab on a closed test track this week and came away impressed, posting on X that the vehicle “successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.” He called the ride “impressive.”
The stop was part of a broader event Monday at SunTrax, a 775 acre state owned proving ground in Auburndale that Florida built specifically to test autonomous and connected vehicles before they reach public roads. Standing next to a gold Cybercab, DeSantis described the car in plain terms: “You go in there and you just sit. You have a screen. There’s no steering wheel, no pedals. Clearly these things could be very beneficial.”
We took a ride on a robotaxi on the Suntrax course and it successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.
Impressive! https://t.co/FVAkzFLz3r
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 11, 2026
DeSantis paired the praise with a caveat that has followed autonomous vehicles since the category existed. “You don’t want to be in an autonomous vehicle and it drives you into a ditch. That would not be good,” he said, framing safety validation as the gate before wider deployment.
SunTrax, the 2.25 mile oval which the state calls the only high speed autonomous vehicle test track in the Southeast, can simulate rain, pedestrian crossings, hills and crowded urban conditions at highway speeds, letting companies push a car past what an early public rollout would risk. Tesla, Waymo and Beep all use the facility, and Florida’s regulatory approach, among the most permissive for autonomous vehicles in the country, doesn’t require a human operator inside a fully autonomous car.
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Tesla has reason to want the blessing of Florida and states beyond, as the Cybercab entered volume production at Gigafactory Texas this spring and has since self certified as SAE Level 4 under Texas law. Public road testing so far has kept a safety monitor in the passenger seat, and Florida is where Tesla has been expanding its existing Model Y based Robotaxi service instead, adding Miami in July and then Orlando and Tampa two weeks later. A closed track endorsement from a sitting governor doesn’t change any of that, but it does put Tesla’s newest hardware in front of a state that has already shown it will move fast on rules.
Tesla launches Powerwall Lease for affordable home backup
Elon Musk teases Tesla Roadster unveiling once again
