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The Boring Company LVCC Loop timelapse shows smooth, busy tunnel activity
When The Boring Company’s Las Vegas Convention Center Loop was formally opened for commuters use last month, the underground transport tunnel system received a lot of great reviews. Participants of the 2021 World of Concrete convention, who were the first to use the system, praised the Loop for its smooth, quiet rides and overall fun factor.
It appears that the LVCC Loop has since been used widely by commuters in the Las Vegas Convention Center area. Videos taken in one of the Loop stations by Model Y owner @TALLGUDGE show that the underground transport tunnel gets pretty busy, with the stream of Teslas and passengers waiting to get a ride being consistent overall.
The Tesla advocate also mentioned some key updates about the current underground transport tunnel system, such as when the vehicles in the Loop would be driverless. As per the Model Y owner, he was informed that Tesla is still working on car-to-car communications for the vehicles in the Loop, but once that is smoothened out, the LVCC transport tunnels would use autonomous cars.
Other videos shared by the Tesla advocate showed a glimpse at what happens inside the Loop stations, which seemed to be operating smoothly as a regular transport system. Overall, there’s a sense of normalcy in the LVCC Loop’s recent videos, suggesting that Elon Musk’s idea for underground transport tunnel systems may not be too farfetched after all.
This is a notable point considering that the LVCC Loop was completed at a cost of about $52.5 million. This was a fraction of the cost of a proposed traditional above-ground transit system from Austria-based Doppelmayr Garaventa Group, which was also shortlisted for the Las Vegas Convention Center. Doppelmayr quoted a cost of about $215 million for its above-ground transit system, over four times as much as The Boring Company’s LVCC Loop.
The Boring Company may only be perceived as Elon Musk’s “hobby” company considering the time and effort he puts on SpaceX and Tesla, but the tunneling startup has a lot of potential. The tunneling market is ripe for disruption, and so is the transport sector. If The Boring Company could fully optimize its Loop system while keeping its costs as low as possible, it would not be surprising if more facilities like the LVCC Loop get built in the future.
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Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapacks help power battery supplier Panasonic’s Kyoto test site
Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
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Tesla highlights the Megapack site replacing Hawaii’s last coal plant
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
