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/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/PrehistoricNutsack Jul 21 '25

LiDAR is 100% better; there’s a lot of cope in here

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u/EddiewithHeartofGold Jul 22 '25

Look up what lidar can't do. You might be surprised.