The Boring Company has been using a fleet of Tesla vehicles to ferry passengers through a pair of 1-mile long tunnels underneath the Las Vegas Convention Center for over one year. The tunnel network recently expanded with the opening its first passenger station on the Strip at Resorts World Las Vegas.
All of the Tesla vehicles operating in the tunnels have been driven manually with a human behind the wheel, but that could change later this year.
CEO Elon Musk was asked on Twitter how long it would take for the fleet to start using Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta and operate semi-autonomously in the tunnels.
Musk responded by saying “maybe later this year.”
Maybe later this year
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2022
What Musk didn’t clarify is whether the vehicles would be operated without a driver behind the wheel, although this seems unlikely given that FSD Beta is still currently considered a Level 2 advanced driver assistance system, or ADAS. At this level a human is still required to be in the driver’s seat and be able to take over control of the vehicle at any time.
The Boring Company’s network of tunnels represents a perfect use case for FSD Beta however, with well marked and well lit one way lanes and its current relatively low speed limit of 25mph (40km/h).
If The Boring Company does introduce FSD Beta to its fleet of Tesla vehicles later this year, you could be paying for that ride in Dogecoin. Although the rides are currently free, when fares are introduced customers will be able to scan a QR code at the station and pay with their credit card, or the cryptocurrency.
