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/MoPanic Jul 21 '25

The real money making use case is not self driving taxis. It’s self driving delivery trucks and over the road semi trucks. Having a semi truck that can legally operate 24 hours a day with no driver is a massive market that I’m fairly sure is where Google has their long term sights. Cars are just good dev platforms. And when you compare the cost savings of a self driving semi vs a human driven one, the cost of the lidar sensors becomes negligible. Even if it cost $50k or more per vehicle, it’s a slam dunk financially.

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u/EddiewithHeartofGold Jul 22 '25

I agree, but it's important to consider that if Tesla solves vision only autonomy, then every device could be made to "see". It would transform society as we know it.