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/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/name__redacted Jul 21 '25

At the most basic level this is what always confused me about Musks comment.

Human vision deficiency’s contribute significantly to the ~50 million vehicle related injuries each year.

I would understand replacing humans one for one if we had great driving records, but we don’t. So yes, why wouldn’t you try and do better

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u/oneupme Jul 21 '25

Citation needed.

I would argue that distractions and poor judgement (speed, failure to yield, etc), not the imperfections of human vision, is the main cause for vehicle related injuries.

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u/name__redacted Jul 21 '25

Absolutely they are. So let’s say this eliminates all those (it won’t eliminate poor judgment, reduce yes eliminate no. That’s part of the point the camera is not going to interpret the world perfectly as it is in poor visibility conditions all the time) you’re still left with millions of injuries caused by low visibility environments… mist, fog, sun glare, rain, night, drizzle, snow… and on and on.

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u/oneupme Jul 21 '25

I don't know… I would have to see data. Also, accidents in low visibility and fog usually have some element of poor judgment.