Tesla Giga Texas Boring Co. tunnel gets paint as it nears completion

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Crews have begun painting the inside of the Boring Company tunnel being built at Gigafactory Texas, as shown in an update shared over the weekend.

In a video update posted by Giga Texas observer and drone pilot Brad Sloan on Saturday, you can see workers painting the interior walls of the Boring Company’s so-called “Cybertunnel,” as the company nears completion. Running beneath the 130 Highway at the Austin, Texas factory, the Boring Company first began construction on the underground tunnel in March, and Elon Musk has previously said that it will be used to transport Cybertrucks from the factory to the outbound lot, where hauling trucks will pick them up for shipping.

The video also shows several other construction updates around the Giga Texas grounds, including the addition of more glass panels, and apparent tests of the water cooling towers set to be used by the on-site supercomputing cluster, dubbed Cortex. You can see a few photos from the video below, or check out Brad’s full 14-minute update here.

Credit: Brad Sloan | YouTube

Credit: Brad Sloan | YouTube

Credit: Brad Sloan | YouTube

The Boring Company also has an ongoing project at its Bastrop, Texas headquarters, and the tunneling firm recently brought county firefighters out to the site as a part of recurring tunnel safety drills. While the company has been in talks with Texas A&M University about a tunneling project, as well as a handful of municipalities across the U.S., the largest Boring Company project to date is currently being built out in Las Vegas.

The initial underground tunnel loop built in the city was built near the convention center, fittingly named the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) loop. The company is also expanding and has been building out stations across the city, and it’s eventually expected to include a total of 81 stops across the city.

Boring Company to start using Tesla’s FSD in Las Vegas tunnels

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Tesla Giga Texas Boring Co. tunnel gets paint as it nears completion





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Tesla Cybertrucks have started arriving in Canada ahead of deliveries

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Tesla Cybertrucks have started arriving in Canada just a few weeks after the company officially launched sales in the country, and as the company prepares to begin initial deliveries of the unique electric vehicle (EV).

This week, multiple sources have reported spotting some of the first Tesla Cybertruck units being prepped for delivery in Canada, and one user in the Tesla Motors subreddit has shared photos of the EVs parked at a store in Kitchener, Ontario. Others also said they spotted the vehicle on the road in British Columbia and Quebec, and Tesla has officially launched Cybertruck accessories in the country, just as it said would happen in the coming weeks.

Credit: Aryan_exe | Reddit

Credit: Aryan_exe | Reddit

Tesla launched sales of the Cybertruck in Canada last month, after one executive from the company said earlier this year that the company was hoping to have the truck on sale in the country soon. Following the statement, the Cybertruck gained a key exemption in the country in July, effectively allowing the steer-by-wire system to be used in the country instead of a regular steering column.

In September, Tesla launched initial deliveries to customers in Mexico, starting with ten units that were delivered to customers during a launch event in the country. Tesla has been working on getting regulations in place to launch the Cybertruck in other countries as well, with some of the first to be registered in European countries in July.

Still, Tesla has faced some pushback in other markets that have stricter pedestrian regulations, including in Europe, where the Cybertruck’s protruding corners are technically not allowed. Last month, two European safety lobby groups wrote to the Transport Minister of the Czech Republic, saying the Cybertruck presented an “illegal risk to all other road users,” and noting that the EV’s angular design could “exacerbate injury severity and death rates.”

During Tesla’s 2024 Shareholders Meeting, Elon Musk said that Tesla could have the Cybertruck certified for markets beyond North America sometime next year. More recently, Musk has has also suggested that there could be a market for a smaller Cybertruck design that would be easier to certify internationally.

Tesla Cybertruck achieves positive gross margin for first time

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Tesla Cybertrucks have started arriving in Canada ahead of deliveries





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Tesla signs Korean olympian to be first brand ambassador

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Tesla has made an interesting move by signing Korean Olympic Shooter Kim Ye-ji as its first-ever brand ambassador.

Kim said in a press release announcing the partnership that she hopes to “convey a positive message together with Tesla” and that she is “very excited” to work with the automaker.

However, from a standpoint that many might agree with, it is a somewhat out-of-character move by Tesla, which has long been against a devoted advertising campaign. This includes brand ambassadors which have not been a part of the company’s strategy in the past.

Tesla has gotten a lot of publicity from celebrities choosing to own the company’s EVs under their own fruition. Rapper Snoop Dogg once was told by CEO Elon Musk that “everyone pays full price for a Tesla, including me.”

The automaker seems to draw parallels between Kim and its opportunity to promote sustainability using a well-known personality. According to a report by Business Korea, the agency that put the partnership together said the collaboration would be “a meaningful activity linking a sustainable future with sports.”

Kim went viral during the Paris Olympics, where she won the silver medal in the women’s shooting competition. She has landed a role as an assassin in an upcoming Korean film, and has gathered a healthy social media following.

However, it is very interesting to see Tesla make this kind of partnership, especially as it has been so hellbent on putting money into research and development instead of running ads.

Tesla dabbled with ads in the past, running a variety of promotional videos and campaigns on websites.

Tesla starts advertising campaign on Cars.com

At Tesla we’ve never spent any money on advertising, we put all the money into R&D, manufacturing and design to try to make the car as good as possible,” Musk said in the past. Things are seemingly trending in a slightly different direction, but we still wouldn’t expect the company to launch any Super Bowl ads anytime soon.

Other companies have given Tesla publicity during the big game in the past, only for it to backfire on competitors.

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Tesla signs Korean olympian to be first brand ambassador





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