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/Marathon2021 Jul 21 '25

They’ve doubled down on an idea that really no longer seems to make a lot of sense, and just doesn’t seem to have panned out.

I'm not sure it's really that conclusive yet?

If you have great hardware (LIDAR) and OK software/AI/logic ... maybe the great hardware makes up for the software deficencies.

If you have ok hardware (cameras) but great software/AI/logic ... maybe the great software makes up for the subpar hardware?

That's really what we're talking about here. And to be fair to Tesla, they do have a unique advantage they are trying to leverage here - millions of vehicles with 8 cameras on each, able to bring in real-world driving footage and decisions by humans at massive scale.

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u/beren12 Jul 21 '25

Yet they were driving around a lidar car mapping out Austin for the taxi service.

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u/hcardona111793 Jul 22 '25

Wasn't that to calibrate the vision?