Tesla has allegedly begun testing self-driving features of Boring Company’s single lane tunnels in Las Vegas, but it is still “ways off” according to the Las Vegas Convention Center, which owns the tunnels.
Still, Elon Musk believes Tesla’s self -driving will cover half of the US population by the end of the year.
The boring company, a start-up founded by Elon Musk, aims to construct single-lane tunnels under cities in an attempt to relieve traffic jams.
By 2021, it began to operate its first loop, ~ 1.7 miles (2.7 km) tunnels under the LAS Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), with Tesla vehicles that ferry passengers between three stations around the Convention Center.
LVCC was the first to rely on the boring company to implement its ‘loop’ and the service has so far been overwhelming, but the boring company expanded the network a bit in Las Vegas and connects the LVCC loop to a couple of hotels with new tunnels.
Elon Musk declared that the ultimate goal was to self-driving Tesla vehicles to transport people through these tunnels at high speeds.
Many people noticed that a controlled environment with single -lane tunnels, devoid of other vehicles or pedestrians, would be the easiest environment to implement self -driving technology. However, four years after the launch of the LVCC loop, the boring company still uses Tesla vehicles with human drivers.
Steve Hill, CEO of LAS Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) confirmed to Fortune that the boring company began testing Tesla’s autonomous driving in Vegas loop, but he thinks it’s still “roads from”.
He shared some details of the testing so far:
So far, all the initial test has been performed with the standard full self -propelled (FSD) software that consumers can get in their personal Tesla vehicles, and with a boring company’s safety operator in the driver’s seat, according to Hill, who assigned the dull company its first transport contract, and has monitored the entire boring’s original construction and tunneling in the wider county so far. Hill said Boring Company drives vehicles but was uncertain about Tesla’s exact role in the test except for furnishing vehicles and self -driving software. So far, there have been no scratches or accidents, although security drivers “periodically” have had to intervene and take control of the vehicles, Hill said.
Nevertheless, Hill thinks the loop will eventually become autonomous, but he is unsure when this will happen.
While still working to do self-driving work in these single-track tunnels, CEO Elon Musk said Tesla’s Robotaxi service will cover half of the US population by the end of the year.
Electek Tag
As I have said before, there is no way that Tesla could cover half of the US population with an actual Robotaxi service at the end of the year.
But the fact that it does not actually drive any real Robotaxi service changes things.
In the Bay area, Tesla claims to have launched its “Robotaxi”, but it essentially uses its monitored Full Self-Drive (FSD) feature with Tesla employees monitoring vehicles from the driver’s seat.
This is basically the same thing as an Uber driver that has a Tesla with FSD.
Therefore, Tesla could technically cover half of the US population by recruiting a few drivers in all 40 largest metro markets in the United States to drive around Tesla vehicles with FSD and claim its “Robotaxi” covers half the US population.
It would be a ridiculous thing to do and celebrated only by the most cultural of Tesla fans, but at this point I would not be shocked.
My personal opinion is that the right thing to do is deliver what you promised: unattended self -driving in consumer vehicles built since 2016, and the promises given to other customers, such as the Las Vegas Convention Center.
If your self-propelled technology does not work in a single lane tunnel without other road users, it does not work on surface streets.
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