Tesla is making 12 passenger electric van for Boring Company, says official

Information about a new Tesla electric van might have leaked as part of a new project from Elon Musk’s Boring Company.

Tesla has been talking about making an electric passenger bus or van for years.

In the “Tesla Master Plan Part 2,” CEO Elon Musk talked about two new segments Tesla is looking to electrify:

In addition to consumer vehicles, there are two other types of electric vehicle needed: heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport. Both are in the early stages of development at Tesla and should be ready for unveiling next year. We believe the Tesla Semi will deliver a substantial reduction in the cost of cargo transport, while increasing safety and making it really fun to operate.

Tesla did end up unveiling the Tesla Semi, the “heavy-duty truck,” but it never unveiled a vehicle for “high passenger-density urban transport.”

Musk has talked about Tesla making an electric minibus based on the Model X before, but it didn’t come to fruition.

There were talks about Tesla making a passenger vehicle for Musk’s Boring Company, but as time went by, the tunnel-making startup has just used existing Tesla vehicles.

But now a county official working on a new Boring Company project may have leaked a new Tesla vehicle program that the Boring Company will use.

The Boring Company has submitted a Loop project to link Rancho Cucamonga with Ontario International Airport in the greater Los Angeles region.

San Bernardino County, which is overseeing the project, has been so impressed by the company’s proposal that they have dropped studies about other transportation options and instead focused on the Loop.

Mercury News reported:

“A San Bernardino County transportation agency voted Wednesday, June 3, to pursue a proposal from Elon Musk’s The Boring Co. for a high-speed tunnel linking Rancho Cucamonga with Ontario International Airport.”

The project sounds similar to the one in construction in Las Vegas and the one proposed for the Chicago O’Hare airport.

A 2.8-mile tunnel system would link the airport to a station in Rancho Cucamonga and it would transport people in electric vehicles inside the tunnels.

San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman reportedly told Mercury News that the Boring Company is working with Tesla to develop electric vans for the project:

“Originally, the proposal called for specially designed Tesla cars. But Hagman said the company is working with Tesla to develop electric vans that can seat up to 12 people and their luggage, enlarging the capacity to 1,200 people per day, or 10 million-plus per year.”

They didn’t release more details about the vehicle.

The county and Boring Company will work on a report about routes, costs and environmental concerns to be submitted in August or September.

Electrek’s Take

This is crazy.

I was just writing last week about how it makes so much sense for Tesla to make an electric van based on Model X – pictured above.

I even mentioned that it would work great for the Boring Company’s Loop system:

“I could even see the vehicle being used in the Boring Company’s Loop system, like the one being built in Las Vegas.”

While I would still classify this as a rumor since the only source, for now, is one county official, I think it’s starting to look a lot more likely.

I am curious to see if it’s going to be a brand new vehicle, like the early concept that the Boring Company unveiled:

Or if Tesla will modify an existing vehicle.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.