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Tesla Model 3 zips through Boring Co. tunnel at 116 mph in latest video
The Boring Company has been busy refining its tunnel technology since unveiling it last December, and a new video shared by venture capitalist and Tesla board member Steve Jurvetson has provided the best encapsulation of the experience yet.
In the video, a Boring Company team member is first seen transporting Jurvetson and another passenger in a Tesla Model 3 onto the system’s elevator entrance while discussing driver options during the journey. “We usually offer a slower ride on Autopilot or a fast ride [with] manual driving,” the driver explained. The group then sped through the tunnel, reaching a maximum 116 mph while crossing the underground distance from the corner of Prairie & 120th Street to the corner of Crenshaw & Rocket Rd in Hawthorne, CA. Total travel time between each of the the tunnel ends was about one minute.
The Model 3 driver also revealed upcoming self-driving options for future Boring tunnel transits. “Right now Autopilot goes up to 90 [mph], and we’re increasing it to 125,” he detailed. The group traveled using the manual driving option in the video, however. Alongside updates to driving options available, a button labeled “Request Departure” was added to initiate the tunnel journey via the all-electric midsize sedan’s touchscreen, and route information was displayed while underground.
Note: The original video referenced was removed from YouTube shortly after this article was published. Another version was uploaded to Twitter and is posted below.
https://twitter.com/tesla_truth/status/1142235000554676224?s=21
As seen in the last Boring update posted in May, the Model 3 in the travel demo was not using the vehicle skates present during the company’s opening party. The traffic-busting tunnel now appears to have a much smoother ride thanks to this change, something Boring Company founder Elon Musk previously explained as, “simple and just works.” This change and other subtle additions and modifications demonstrate both Musk’s and the company’s desire to continuously innovate their technology.
The Boring Company was created as a two-fold answer to frustrating traffic situations. First, it’s an alternative travel route that avoids above-ground congestion; and second, it lowers the cost of tunnel boring technology overall by using new design and engineering approaches to old digging machines. The venture’s one-mile demo tunnel was built for about $10 million dollars as compared to the $500-$1 billion dollars it traditionally costs to dig a tunnel of the same length. Notably, Jurvetson simultaneously shared a few photos of the tunnel boring machine being used for the company’s current projects with his video.
Bypassing the LA Rush Hour Commute, at 116 MPH, underground.
I took video: https://t.co/ZZmO160INlThe latest iteration on the @BoringCompany masterplan to resolve soul deadening traffic. Did you know that a tunnel is just about the best terrestrial place to be in an earthquake? pic.twitter.com/foNznpdCG9
— Steve Jurvetson (@FutureJurvetson) June 22, 2019
The short Hawthorne-based test tunnel isn’t the only transit project Musk’s underground venture has on its manifest. Last month, board members of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority approved a Boring Company contract to build two tunnels to transport passengers between locations under their convention center. Additionally, an environmental assessment was recently completed for a Boring-built tunnel between Washington DC and Baltimore, Maryland that will enable 15-minute trips between the two destinations. If approved, Hyperloop technology may also be compatible with the system, introducing travel speeds of over 600 mph.
Overall, The Boring Company continues its growth into yet another industry disruption that challenges the status quo. Smoother rides are definitely a step in the right direction, and Autopilot integration seems like a natural fit considering Tesla’s push towards autonomy and long-term vision.
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.
🚨 Tesla is using different light bar colors to help riders understand which vehicle is theirs
Pretty cool strategy pic.twitter.com/eGMpEMeRpc
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 27, 2026
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.
Additionally, members of the public will be invited as well. Tesla has been offering employee rides in Cybercab for nearly two months.
Tesla has said goodbye to one customization option for its vehicles: the wrap service it launched several years ago.
After launching an in-house wrap service in August 2020 for the first time in China. In the U.S., it launched in October 2023. Tesla continued to expand the program and adjust it with better pricing and fewer options for the Cybertruck.
By December 2023, it was giving owners of the Model 3, Model Y, and the Cybertruck the opportunity to give their vehicle a fresh look with a vinyl wrap.
Tesla revamps in-house vinyl wrap service with better pricing
It was only available in five locations: Costa Mesa, Oceanside, Santa Clara, West Covina, all in California, and Seattle, Washington.
However, Tesla made some big adjustments to its shop, and the wrap service is officially gone:
Tesla has made a LOT of changes to its online shop recently — price increases, price cuts, new options, and several products being removed entirely.
Some of the biggest increases are wheel covers. 👀
📈 PRICE INCREASES
• 2017-2023 | Model 3 Aero Wheel Cover — Style: Refresh…— Phoenix Self-Driving 🐦🔥 (@PhoenixFSD) August 25, 2026
Wraps are very popular across the Tesla lineup, especially since the company offers relatively few colors. Many choose to wrap their Teslas with interesting colors, patterns, or even finishes, turning their cars from glossy to satin or matte.
However, Tesla’s wrap service was so limited geographically that it never really had a chance to get off the ground or compete with local shops. Every area in the United States is now overflowing with detailing shops, mobile detailers, and other automotive specialists, many of whom perform wrap services.
Tesla’s service was confined to the Pacific time zone and only spanned across two states. It was never going to be something Tesla was a major competitor in, nor was it going to disrupt the wrapping industry. Now that the program has ended, it seems pretty ideal to believe it was always going to be a short-term thing.
Along with the wrap service, Tesla removed several other products, but nothing too crazy. The Model 3 Door Pocket and Cupholder Liners, the Model S 19″ Magnetite Wheel and Winter Tire Package, Model X/Y Ski/Snowboard Carrier for Hitch Rack, Tesla’s Electric Summer Party Tee, and the Electric Summer Tee were the other items the company totally eliminated from its online shop.
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Tesla Robotaxi fleet gets a brain upgrade ahead of Cybercab launch event
Tesla’s Robotaxi service now runs longer hours nationwide as its unsupervised fleet quietly grows larger.
Tesla’s Robotaxi service just got easier to catch, with the company’s official Robotaxi account noting that rides are now available from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, across its operating footprint. The account also said its unsupervised fleet is “a lot bigger” than before, though without specifics. The bigger change is what Tesla says upgraded intelligence in vehicle distribution and routing is what’s actually cutting wait times, not a new Full Self-Driving version.
While Tesla did not name the team behind the upgrade, the language points to its AI and fleet software group rather than the driving stack itself. Vehicle distribution and routing in Robotaxi has functioned mostly as a dispatch problem with the software deciding which idle car goes to which rider, and how far it has to travel to get there. “Upgraded intelligence” suggests a smarter version of that dispatch logic, likely using demand forecasting to position idle cars near where riders are about to request them rather than reacting once a request comes in. Tesla’s AI division has built similar prediction systems for other parts of the business, including the neural networks that power FSD itself, so applying that same approach to fleet logistics would be a natural extension rather than a new discipline for the team.
Robotaxi now runs 6am to 10pm, 7 days/week
Unsupervised fleet is a lot bigger
Also, upgraded intelligence in vehicle distribution & routing means you wait less pic.twitter.com/UFZ4bqg2dZ
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) August 26, 2026
Tesla is also about a week away from a separate robotaxi milestone. The company plans to launch Cybercab, its purpose built two seat robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals, in Austin on September 3. Cybercab has been giving employees rides on public and private roads for weeks, and the September event is expected to fold those vehicles into the existing Robotaxi fleet within days of the launch.
Thank you so much @Tesla for inviting us to the Cybercab launch in Austin! 🤠 pic.twitter.com/F1rAR8zd5O
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 22, 2026
Austin previously ran Robotaxi from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. as of last September, a schedule set before the service expanded into Dallas, Houston, Miami, Tampa, Orlando and the Bay Area. Wednesday’s post did not specify whether that extended overnight window still applies in Austin specifically or whether 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. is now the standard across every market. Tesla’s post, visible on its official Robotaxi account, framed the change simply as fewer riders waiting around for a car.
Whether the wider hours hold once Cybercab enters the fleet next week is the next thing worth watching. Tesla has tended to expand Robotaxi in increments, first geofence, then hours, then fleet size, and each step so far has arrived without much advance notice.
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Tesla Cybercab uses a unique strategy for picking up the right rider
