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The Boring Company San Antonio Loop’s net revenue expected to be $25M per year, fares to start at $10

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On Wednesday, May 18, The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (RMA) board was briefed on more details about The Boring Company’s (TBC) proposed tunnel from the San Antonio International Airport to downtown.

Bexar County Public Works director and county engineer Renee Green briefed the Alamo RMA board on The Boring Company tunnel project before the members went into executive session.

Green’s presentation noted that 10 million out of 30 million people who visit the city pass through the San Antonio International Airport. As such, the San Antonio tunnel project is expected to generate a net revenue of up to $25 million per year, with fares between $10 to $12. 

“These revenue projections would require, obviously, more detailed study for reasonableness and accuracy. That’s what the ridership and revenue study will tell us,” said Green.

According to Green, all funding for the tunneling project would come from Elon Musk’s tunneling company. She emphasized that taxpayers would not spend a cent on the project. TBC offered a “turn-key lump sum construction price where they assume all the risks.” The Boring Company project is estimated to cost between $241 million and $298 million. 

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TBC plans to build a one-way tunnel 7.6 miles long that would possibly run parallel U.S. 281. However, the route of the tunnel will not be settled until a feasibility study is performed. An examination of potential environmental risks must be done as well. 

The San Antonio tunnel would have exit shafts located every half-mile for safety purposes. The number of stations the tunnel would have is still unknown. 

The presentation stated that 100 Tesla vehicles could transport about 32,000 passengers through the San Antonio tunnel daily on average. It would have a maximum capacity of transporting 4,500 passengers per hour with 100 vehicles. If the tunnel’s Tesla fleet increased to 350 vehicles, it would be able to accommodate 112,000 commuters daily and 15,750 passengers per hour from the airport to downtown. 

“This is an extremely efficient system. You don’t have any cross traffic, you’re not stopping at each location, you’re either pulling in or pulling out of the tunnel system,” said Green. 

She emphasized that each trip would have little to zero wait time. However, Green also highlighted that The Boring Company tunnel would work alongside traditional transit systems and would not be competing for the same ridership.

“The project can provide an equivalent capacity to both bus and rapid transit for a fraction of the operating costs that we’re talking about, while providing reliability and solving a lot of the last-mile difficulties that you see with traditional transit systems by utilizing underground rides where the system will supplement any plan for ongoing transit type projects and is not expected to replace them,” she added.

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The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. If you have any tips, reach out to me at maria@teslarati.com or via Twitter @Writer_01001101.

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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Cybertruck

Tesla clears the air on Cybertruck ‘deactivation’ video that is obviously fake

Tesla has cleared the air on the viral video, stating it is fake.

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Credit: Cybertruck | X

Tesla has cleared the air regarding a video that has been circulating, where the owner claims his Cybertruck was “deactivated” by the company while he was driving.

The video was shared on X and showed a driver pulled over on the side of the road, claiming his Cybertruck had been deactivated by Tesla in the middle of traffic. It is very obviously fake to those who know the company, but these kinds of things have a tendency to pick up steam.

The video shows a screen that says:

“Tesla Cybertruck De-Activated. Critical Issue Detected | Contact Customer Service, Comply with Cease & Desist to Re-Activate. Update Failed, Return to Dealer.”

The same person who posted the video also shared an image of what appears to be a Cease and Desist letter from Tesla, but it is also likely fake:

The company finally responded to the video on Monday afternoon, stating that the video is, in fact, fake, reiterating that it will not disable vehicles remotely for any reason.

It is a shame that these types of things happen, especially as people are prone to believe anything they see on the internet. As there is so much misinformation circulating surrounding Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk, it is no surprise that someone would leverage the situation for their own benefit.

If that Cease and Desist letter is not real, perhaps the next one might be. These types of things can truly cause damage to a company’s reputation, and someone getting an idea that Tesla would remotely deactivate a car could prevent them from buying one.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk is stepping up for Tesla Service in a big way

Elon Musk has stepped up to resolve a handful of customer issues regarding vehicle service.

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tesla service
Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk is stepping up to help customers in a big way, especially when they are having issues with Tesla’s Service.

Perhaps one of the biggest advantages Tesla owners have is access to Musk through X, his social media platform. Over the years, we’ve seen Tesla add features, refine its cars’ performance, and more, all through asking Musk directly through a post.

Now, Musk is stepping up in another way by resolving a few Service complaints that customers had.

The first occurred last week when a recall on a Tesla battery was not honored by Service. The company sought $30,000 for a replacement and labor, which was not right. Musk responded that he would personally investigate the matter. The vehicle was fixed at no cost as it was a recall, and was ready for pickup the next day.

It also revealed a new strategy Tesla is using to combat service communication issues:

Tesla creates clever solution to simplify and improve its Service

The next occurred with a Cybertruck owner who was in Japan. Their car was parked at an airport in the U.S. and had lost a vast majority of its state of charge, leaving them just fifty miles of range at the time.

Musk reached out to the owner and said Service will take care of the car and will investigate the cause of the battery drain:

There are not too many companies out there where the CEO will get involved with individual issues like these. It’s pretty exclusive to Tesla, as Musk has commonly stepped up to resolve complaints with vehicles or to confront features that some owners might find useful.

Service has been a weak point of the company for some time, but it has worked to refine and resolve customer complaints by building more Service Centers across the world that can handle these issues.

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Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirms Robotaxi is opening to the public: here’s when

Anyone will be able to request a Tesla Robotaxi in September, Elon Musk said this morning.

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Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that the company’s Robotaxi platform is opening to the public, and he even gave a timeline for when anyone will be able to access one for a ride.

Tesla’s Robotaxi platform launched to a small group on June 22 in Austin, Texas. The company has continued to expand the number of riders and its geofence over the past month and a half.

Tesla officially launches Robotaxi service with no driver

Additionally, it launched rides in the Bay Area of California, but it differs slightly, as the Texas Robotaxi platform does not utilize a Safety Monitor in the driver’s seat. In California, the monitor sits in the driver’s seat.

As the geofence, service areas, and testing populations expand, Tesla fans are awaiting their elusive emails that enable their ability to use the Robotaxi platform. It now seems that the email will come soon, as Musk said Tesla will open up public access to Robotaxi next month:

Tesla has been prioritizing safety over anything else with the launch of the Robotaxi platform, which is why it has been slow to push invitations to new riders. It is confident in the abilities of the platform and its Full Self-Driving suite, which has been proven with data.

However, even a single accident could set Tesla back years in terms of its development of self-driving cars. It is not a risk it is willing to take.

Musk said during the recent Q2 Earnings Call:

“We need to make sure it works when the vehicles are fully under our control. It’s kind of one step at a time here. We don’t want to jump the gun. As I said, we’re being paranoid about safety. But I guess next year is I’d say confidently next year. I’m not sure when next year, but confidently next year, people would be able to add or subtract their car to the Tesla, Inc. fleet.”

As the platform will expand in Austin and the Bay Area for anyone, Tesla still continues to reiterate that Robotaxi will be available for everyone sometime next year, as Musk said in the quote above.

Things will continue to improve over time, and Tesla will likely expand its geofence in both regions in the coming weeks. It has already done that in Austin twice, with about a doubling in size occurring both times.

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