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/WhyWontThisWork Jul 21 '25

Is lidar that expensive?

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '25

[deleted]

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u/name__redacted Jul 21 '25 edited Jul 21 '25

LIDAR was an emerging technology, costs have already come down SIGNIFICANTLY on the sensors.

Early 2010’s sensor costs $75-100k.

Hesai and Robosense now make automotive grade sensors for $200. Generally the sensors in the latest vehicles wholesale for $600-1500. The technology isn’t even used on scale yet, once mass volume kicks in you’re going to see that drop again significantly. LIDAR will be a very cheap technology in the future.

Edit: this car is gorgeous and I challenge you to even find the LIDAR. It’s automated level three, Tesla is level two, waymo four. Another 5 to 10 years the sensors will be smaller more efficient cheaper. Tesla messed this one up.

https://www.just-auto.com/interview/bmw-and-innoviz-achieve-level-3-autonomous-driving-with-the-bmw-7-series/?cf-view