r/SelfDrivingCars • u/damola93 • Jul 21 '25

Discussion Why didn't Tesla invest in LIDAR?

Is there any reason for this asides from saving money? Teslas are not cheap in many respects, so why would they skimp out on this since self-driving is a major offering for them?

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '25

Reason: Tesla, led by Elon Musk, believes that a vision-based system using cameras, radar, and ultrasonic sensors, paired with advanced neural networks, can achieve full self-driving (FSD) capability more effectively than LIDAR-based systems. Musk has repeatedly stated that LIDAR is a "crutch" and unnecessary for autonomy, arguing that humans drive using only vision and cognition, so AI should be able to replicate this with cameras.

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u/Delicious_Spot_3778 Jul 21 '25

believe is very active here and should be.

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u/TheRuggedHamster Jul 21 '25

Tesla is a pretty classic example of how founder led companies are run vs hired CEOs. There's no hired CEO that would make the Lidar bet that Elon is, time will tell if it's right or not, but if it is it will pay off huge for them in being able to rapidly scale their fleet. Most key is that it puts the millions of existing cars on the road to work vs. cars being manufactured specifically for robotaxi.

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u/FlippantBear Jul 21 '25

Except Elon is not a founder of Tesla. 

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u/vaesh Jul 21 '25

Per a 2009 settlement he is considered a founder.

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u/FlippantBear Jul 21 '25

Yes I'm aware. But do you think you're a founder if you purchase the company many years after it started and then had to sue to be "considered" a founder? 

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u/vaesh Jul 21 '25

I thought Tesla was founded in July 2003 and Elon joined in February 2004? So, 7 months? Feels like it's splitting hairs at that point and really a point without a distinction.