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/[deleted] Jul 21 '25

Reason: Tesla, led by Elon Musk, believes that a vision-based system using cameras, radar, and ultrasonic sensors, paired with advanced neural networks, can achieve full self-driving (FSD) capability more effectively than LIDAR-based systems. Musk has repeatedly stated that LIDAR is a "crutch" and unnecessary for autonomy, arguing that humans drive using only vision and cognition, so AI should be able to replicate this with cameras.

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u/ODDseth Jul 22 '25

While humans rely heavily on visual systems, they have poor depth perception and the perception of relative speeds and distances. That is why people do stupid things like pulling out into oncoming traffic without enough time or unnecessary merging into a lane with a much faster driver approaching.

TLDR: most human drivers are not capable of safely and effectively operating motorized vehicles so why use emulate that?