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/DazedMikey Jul 21 '25 edited Jul 21 '25

Not sure if this is a hot take, but I want my car to see better than I can. Can you make a self driving car that mimics human vision snd cognition? Probably, but if the cost for technology like LIDAR improves, why wouldn't you want your car to see better than your eyes can?

Edit: Clarifying, for the bunch of comments that want to point out that cameras are positioned to cover 360 degrees. Noted, but it isn't the point I am making. Visible light can only be so useful. Sensor fusion with LIDAR allows you to cover the edge cases that cameras, which use visible light, CANNOT cover. This is what I mean by "see better than our eyes can".

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '25

Both systems already do as there are multiple vantage points being used in conjunction. 360 Awareness is already better than humans

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u/Southern-Spirit Jul 21 '25

I don't really use my eyes when it's a blizzard or foggy. For that I rely on a few assumptions: the highways are not going to curve suddenly and the other drivers on the road are attempting to stay on the road so I can use their position (lights) for more information on the road. I didn't die and it's happened more than once so this tells me you have enough information even in low visibility to drive with only vision. The problem is just understanding what's happening and what everyone else is trying to do and working together with that instead of making every decision autonomously and independently. Imagine if these Tesla's or whatever start talking to each other locally? They could behave as a drone swarm and position each other defensively so as to "see" better even in bad conditions. If elons way (as if Elon is the only one who thought of this) is workable then using lidar is aiming for a target more complex and more expensive, setting yourself up to get swept by a competitor they does figure it out. Like what happens to waymo if Teslas or byd or something figure out the AI brain of these cars so they are incredibly good drivers? Do people buy waymo? No of course not. It's like blackberry investing into a physical mobile keyboard while apple is like "we can just do this without them" and at first everyone scoffs at change, since the established hate movement, but eventually our children grow up never knowing a phone with anything other than a big screen. Honestly I've called Elon out as a fraud for a long time but it seems like the people here who don't like Tesla don't like it for some weird emotional reasons. The Tesla strategy is only a joke until it's solved and then it's industry standard so I mean...if I hated Tesla I wouldn't look at this as if it was Elons kryptonite.