Model 3 Zooms Through Boring Tunnel at 116 MPH

A new video has surfaced online of a Model 3 zooming through the Boring Company’s tunnel in Los Angeles at 116 mph.

The video shows a Model 3 loaded with passengers being lowered into the test tunnel. Then, the driver pulls up a Boring Company app on the car’s screen to hit a button labeled “Request Departure.”

“We usually offer a slower ride on Autopilot or a fast ride [with] manual driving,” the driver explained. He appeared to navigated the tunnel manually, reaching a top speed of 116 mph before the car began to slow down. It took roughly one minute for the one-mile ride.

It’s worth noting that the vehicle was not attached to any other tracking system and seemed to be fully guided by the driver. This could signal a change in the Boring Company’s plan, which previously used “tracking wheels” to guide the vehicle.

The company released in December 2017 a map of its planned network of underground tunnels in Los Angeles.

The first route will be the 6.5-mile “proof-of-concept tunnel” through Los Angeles and Culver City. “The tunnel will initially be used for construction logistics verification, system testing, safety testing, operating procedure verification, and line-switching demonstrations.” If the company is successful in completing the project and proving it safe for public transport, Phase 2 will extend well into the outskirts of Los Angeles county.

The original video shared to YouTube by venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson, who is currently a board member of SpaceX and Tesla, was deleted, but another version was posted to Twitter. Check it out below.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1142235000554676224

 

[Mayhemm]

Surprised to see any kind of manual option. I wouldn't want to be in control of a vehicle zipping through a tunnel at over 100mph. I thought the cars were supposed to ride automated sleds or has tesla abandoned that plan?

 

[Big Earl]

Looks like they've paved the tunnel and plan on letting the cars use Autopilot through the tunnel instead of steering on that weird track and wheel setup. The previous setup didn't look particularly smooth as a passenger.

Seems kind of sketchy operating the vehicle manually at high velocity with such narrow margins on the side of the tunnel. Thread the needle! I wonder how fast Autopilot can do it.

 

[pilotSteve]

Looks like they've paved the tunnel and plan on letting the cars use Autopilot through the tunnel instead of steering on that weird track and wheel setup. The previous setup didn't look particularly smooth as a passenger.

Seems kind of sketchy operating the vehicle manually at high velocity with such narrow margins on the side of the tunnel. Thread the needle! I wonder how fast Autopilot can do it.

How many pulls on the AP stalk to activate this? Four... Five? Then jump to Light Speed!

 

[LoneSTR]

Looks like they've paved the tunnel and plan on letting the cars use Autopilot through the tunnel instead of steering on that weird track and wheel setup. The previous setup didn't look particularly smooth as a passenger.

Seems kind of sketchy operating the vehicle manually at high velocity with such narrow margins on the side of the tunnel. Thread the needle! I wonder how fast Autopilot can do it.

According to the article, current Autopilot speed in the tunnel limited to 90 mph with upgrades planned.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Man, you are right. That tunnel was boring.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Did appear to be "manual control" throughout the whole tunnel. Perhaps the side curbs help gently nudge the car back into the lane if the driver sways to far one way or the other.

 

[Steve_in_DE]

According to the article, current Autopilot speed in the tunnel limited to 90 mph with upgrades planned.

I would guess that in this case autopilot was steering the car, and the driver was pushing the speed up by leaning on the accelerator. I would be concerned about autopilot being "good enough" to maintain a distance of only inches away from each side of the path at 100+ mph. I guess it does it every day with lane lines on the highway, but even so - down there there's zero margin for error. Good thing there are no random shadows in there to spook it! No wonder it's so evenly lit.

 

[trak0r]

Looks like they've paved the tunnel and plan on letting the cars use Autopilot through the tunnel instead of steering on that weird track and wheel setup. The previous setup didn't look particularly smooth as a passenger.

Seems kind of sketchy operating the vehicle manually at high velocity with such narrow margins on the side of the tunnel. Thread the needle! I wonder how fast Autopilot can do it.

The guy mentioned AP would do 90 mph right now.

 

[hill]

Co-worker took delivery of a model 3 prior to last weekend. Took it up to the Bay Area and coming back along the coastal route it just stopped. VSC is still scratching their heads trying to figure out what happened. That would be a real drag, being in a one-lane tunnel only to find out it's plugged up worse than someone on a pure cheese diet.
.

 

[Cheburashka]

Yeah, not really impressed.

What exactly is innovative about driving a car through a tunnel?

 

[HankLloydRight]

Yeah, not really impressed.

What exactly is innovative about driving a car through a tunnel?

Elon Musk did it.

 

[Cheburashka]

Oh yeah, I forgot Elon Musk invented tunnels. My bad!

 

[NRG4All]

What provisions have they made in case of an earthquake?

 

[Larry W]

Nice to know the Model 3 can go 116mph. The fastest I've gone is 115.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

What provisions have they made in case of an earthquake?

They built a tunnel.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Did appear to be "manual control" throughout the whole tunnel. Perhaps the side curbs help gently nudge the car back into the lane if the driver sways to far one way or the other.

It's not manual control, they were applying torque to the wheel to avoid nags.

 

[blackeducator]

Looks like they've paved the tunnel and plan on letting the cars use Autopilot through the tunnel instead of steering on that weird track and wheel setup. The previous setup didn't look particularly smooth as a passenger.

Seems kind of sketchy operating the vehicle manually at high velocity with such narrow margins on the side of the tunnel. Thread the needle! I wonder how fast Autopilot can do it.

Sounded like he said about 90MPH on autopilot. Clearly this is still a work in progress....

 

[HankLloydRight]

At some point, Elon is going to realize that he re-invented the subway.

 

[Cheburashka]

A subway is infinitely times more useful than that tunnel.