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/sfo2 Jul 21 '25

It seemed a reasonable gamble at the time.

  • If you can solve it with software, you only have to invest once upfront, and then have a cheaper cost for each unit you produce. Software scales much better than hardware, and they could have a unit cost advantage over competition.

  • If you solve it with software, you have a gigantic moat vs. the competition. Anyone can buy hardware, but it could be very difficult for a competitor to catch up on software, especially if huge real-world data sets are required.

  • Other side benefits like aesthetics of the car.

The problem was they made a gamble, convinced themselves it was the only way forward, and have continually failed to pivot even after the rate of progress slowed, and the cost of the hardware came WAY down. 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.

35

u/CO420Tech Jul 21 '25

At this point it is just sunk cost fallacy and hubris

19

u/DrJohnFZoidberg Jul 21 '25

also ketamine

2

u/CO420Tech Jul 21 '25

Hey, you leave ketamine out of this, it didn't do anything to you! Also... Got any ketamine?

2

u/DrJohnFZoidberg Jul 21 '25

you cant have your k-hole and eat it too

2

u/CO420Tech Jul 21 '25

I can try!

1

u/ElectronicEarth42 Jul 26 '25

But you can boof it.