Tesla’s autonomous driving cars are tested in the Boring Co. tunnels in Las Vegas, but the full autonomy is still `outside,” says the Executive of the Center Convention

“We started to test,” said Steve Hill, CEO of the city’s marketing organization, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) Fortune In an interview in his office earlier this month. Hill said that the autonomous tests had started before the launch of Robotaxi de Tesla in June – at the end of 2024 – and that no passengers were in vehicles during the tests.

Until now, all the initial tests have been carried out with standard software on autonomous driving (FSD) that consumers can obtain in their Tesla Personal vehicles, and with a boring company security operator on the driver’s headquarters, according to Hill, who has awarded the boring company its first transport contract and which supervised the initial construction of Boring and the tunnel in the broader county. Hill said Boring Company operates vehicles, but was not sure of Tesla’s exact role in tests in addition to providing vehicles and autonomous software. So far, there has been no scratch or accident, although the safety drivers have “periodically” to intervene and take control of the vehicles, said Hill.

The boring company and Elon Musk have repeatedly suggested that the teslas leading below Las Vegas will eventually behave, but so far, there has not been a firm calendar for the moment when this process will officially start. Boring Company, who received initial approvals to build an underground taxi system of 68 miles below Las Vegas, has still not received the necessary permits to dig within the city limits, confirmed a spokesperson for Las Vegas). Tesla and the boring company did not respond to requests for comments.

In the future, Boring Company will remove the safety drivers from the headquarters before the tests, said Hill, but we do not know when it will take place, because it will depend on the moment when Tesla, when Musk is CEO, and the boring society can demonstrate to the LVCVA that it is sure to do so. Participants in the Center Convention will also have to familiarize themselves with the idea before testing with cyclists, according to Hill. “I think it’s a way to finish,” says Hill, noting that it is crucial that the system “works exceptionally well and instilled and wins confidence” with the people who go up there.

The current Boring Company tunnel system is made up of two one -way one -way tunnels connecting passengers at different ends of the Las Vegas Convention Center as well as to Resorts World and the Westgate Hotel and Casino.

Hill said vehicles are currently tested in autonomous mode inside the tunnels, “experimenting with the environment” because “they find stains that are difficult for them”. The rock walls of the tunnels, said Hill, combined with the brilliant and colorful lights in the passages create “interesting but strange lighting” for the Tesla autonomous system, which only uses video cameras and does not depend on the radar and Lidar sensors that most of its competitors use to help cars “see” the world around them.

Tunnels should be a “much easier environment” for autonomous vehicles than Austin’s open roads – where Tesla started a small -scale Robotaxi operation with the employees of the passenger seat – because, in tunnels, the boring company has a total control over what enters, said Hill. In theory, this means cases of less unexpected “edge” for autonomous cars to face, whether cyclists, pedestrians or annoying animals (although the tunnel has had its share of intruders). Until now, Hill has said that there had been no pull -ups or accidents. However, said Hill, Boring Company “will have to show us this and make us comfortable (they) can go to the next step. The LVCVA will probably also call on a consultant before the security driver is removed, according to Hill.

“Sooner or later it will be independent,” said Hill.

For the moment, Boring Company is expanding its tunnel system and its fleet of human drivers – currently working on an underground road to Las Vegas airport. This tunnel will emerge on a nearby property, and Teslas, focused on humans, will lead the rest of the path to and from the airport on the main roads, “like Uber and Lyft”, says Hill. Boring waited for permits of the city to direct a tunnel under the boulevard Las Vegas. The company also announced its intention to start digging below another city: Nashville.

Fortune Last year, there had been an intrusion into the tunnels of Las Vegas, as well as a series of safety episodes, including boring workers from burnt companies with chemicals in tunnels, boring employees digging too close to the Las Vegas Monorail and a huge concrete trash which had collapsed in front of the Congress Center. The OSHA issued several “serious” violations to the boring company last year, which the company belonging to Musk is attractive. This appeal hearing, scheduled for mid-August, was postponed later this year.

After FortuneReport, Hill said that his agency would play a more practical role with security, and he appointed an LVCVA employee to supervise the work of the boring company. Hill said he was not aware of any other serious security incident since this appointment.

“I think it was really useful,” said Hill, noting that Boring Company was “completely welcoming” of LVCVA security surveillance.

While the current iteration of the underground network of Boring Company is far from the word of the high -speed hyperloop system, where customers dilated in autonomous electric pods at more than 600 miles per hour, Hill says that he is proud of the system in its current form, affirming that it is “the highest functionality that we have” at the center of the Convention. “People love it,” he said, noting that the only reason for which Boring does not dig more quickly is because of the restraint of obtaining permits.

“We hold them back. They don’t hold us back,” said Hill.