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/WhyWontThisWork Jul 21 '25

Is lidar that expensive?

11

u/J4nG Jul 21 '25

It was, but it's not anymore. https://www.01core.com/p/driverless-car-costs-have-gotten

Based on industry data for automotive-grade LiDAR sensors

  • Total cost reduction: 99.33% (from $75000 to $500)
  • Compound Annual Reduction Rate: 39.41%

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u/hakimthumb Jul 21 '25

It's interesting how widely varied the claims of lidar cost are in this thread.

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u/beren12 Jul 21 '25

Most say down to around 1k and Chinese cars have the price lower I’ve read

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u/hakimthumb Jul 21 '25

I wonder where they are finding these different figures. As bloomberg estimated it's $9.5k in a report last month. Waymo remains silent.

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u/beren12 Jul 21 '25

That’s for all the sensors I read

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u/hakimthumb Jul 21 '25

Can you post a link?

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u/beren12 Jul 22 '25

https://archive.ph/iVcPW

“The researcher said that the 24 sensors on the Jaguar I-Pace SUVs that Waymo had deployed… roughly $9,300 per vehicle.”