Tesla’s self-driving still doesn’t work in the Boring Company’s one-way tunnels

Tesla’s self-driving system still doesn’t work in The Boring Company’s one-way tunnels under Las Vegas, even though it’s reportedly been working on it for years.

But self-driving Tesla vehicles on public roads are around the corner?

Tesla uberbulls often like to say that Tesla is the leader in self-driving because while it doesn’t have a commercially available autonomous ride-hailing service like Waymo, it doesn’t rely on geo-fencing and mapping like Waymo.

They argue that if Tesla wanted to do it, it could, but it prefers to focus on an autonomous system that could drive anywhere, anytime without mapping.

It’s doubtful they could do it if they wanted to, though, because they still haven’t done it on a project much simpler than Waymo’s operations in Pheonix and other cities: the tunnels under Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Convention Center Loop is The Boring Company’s first full-scale loop project currently in commercial use.

Elon Musk’s tunneling start-up completed the $50 million project in just over a year.

A Boring Company Loop system consists of tunnels where Tesla’s electric vehicles travel at high speeds between stations to transport people in a city. The Boring Company said it was working with Tesla to use its self-driving system inside these tunnels, which would make it possible to get rid of the current drivers and lower operating costs.

But 2 years and more tunnels connected to the Loop later, The Boring Company still uses drivers in the tunnels.

Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention, told Las Vegas’s Review-Journal that the goal is now to have “some driver assistance tool” used in Lopp before the end of the year:

“Hopefully this will be easily implemented using a driver assistance tool before the end of this year.”

There is no timeline for “full autonomy,” meaning without a driver involved.

Currently, only the three stations at the convention center and one at the Resorts World hotel are in operation. Another station connecting the network to Encore is expected to open soon.

In all, 93 stations and 68 miles of tunnels are planned as part of the Loop under Las Vegas.

Electrek’s Take

I like The Boring Company. Tunnels are a smart solution to increase transport capacity in urban areas, and if the start-up can reduce the costs of tunnelling, it is overall a net positive.

However, the way they are using the tunnels right now, with drivers carrying a few passengers in Tesla vehicles in these one-way tunnels, does not seem to be the best use. I think from now on a subway system would be more useful.

If the vehicles were self-driving, it would make more sense. Tesla has reportedly been working with the Boring Company on this for years, but it’s still not in use.

It doesn’t inspire much confidence in Tesla FSD if they can’t make it work on a one way, zero traffic, no weather, zero obstruction fixed route. It is literally the easiest use case.