Tesla’s referral program, which has turned its devoted ownership base into an enthusiastic and influential salesforce, is offering another set of big prizes, including some time behind the wheel—so to speak—of CEO Elon Musk’s giant electric tunnel boring machine.
The giant machine is the star at The Boring Company, a startup Musk was inspired to create after dealing with the constant soul-crushing traffic congestion he experiences in the Los Angeles area. The aim of the startup, at this point a side business to Musk’s much bigger companies Tesla and SpaceX, is to find a way cost-effectively dig networks of tunnels for vehicles, high-speed trains, or even the futuristic hyperloop that will theoretical transport people and packages at speeds over 760 miles per hour.
The machine-driving prize, first revealed by the blog Teslarati, was later retweeted by Musk.
Tesla unlocks ‘Level 2’ referral program prize: Drive an electric tunnel boring machine with The Boring Company – https://t.co/TH12oq38qO pic.twitter.com/9EJI8cpr7V
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 23, 2017
Tesla’s referral program rewards owners who successfully get the most people to buy a Tesla electric vehicle. This latest set of rewards is a secret “Level 2” referral program prize
Top referrers who unlock the secret level are given a code to give five friends free unlimited access to Tesla’s high-speed charging network known as Superchargers and $1,000 off a new Model S or Model X, according to Teslarati, which posted the notification from Tesla fan YouTube site Like Tesla.
Once all five of these friends take delivery of the Model S or Model X (meaning they’ve bought the car), Tesla will give the referrer an opportunity to drive the electric tunnel boring machine with The Boring Company in Hawthorne, Calif., the same location as SpaceX.
Tesla ended its first referral program in October 2015. That first program issued $1,000 credits to the referrer and buyer. The second referral program dialed back the incentives and only offered the buyer a $1,000 discount on their new car. Tesla rebooted its referral program in February 2016 with a special focus on encouraging installations of home electric vehicle chargers.
Tesla is now in its ninth referral program.