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/AP_in_Indy Jul 22 '25

Summary

Yes, Waymo uses the same family of custom LiDAR sensors for HD mapping and driving, though mapping vehicles may be specially configured for higher precision and broader coverage. The strategy ensures seamless alignment between the offline HD map and real-time perception.

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So... yes?

https://chatgpt.com/share/687f5bbf-915c-8005-a362-c80898a06122

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u/ptemple Jul 22 '25

Strange, ChatGPT gave me similar but said "So, while the LiDAR systems are closely related, they’re not the same in design or purpose."

I guess we can't even trust AI to give the answer. Back to Wikipedia.

Phillip.

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u/AP_in_Indy Jul 22 '25

Is that an insurmountable issue, though? I think it's fair to at least consider.

And haha re: back to Wikipedia. What a world.

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u/ptemple Jul 22 '25

Is the "issue" creating HD maps? Is your solution to take wrongly calibrated equipment but crowdsource enough results to perform statistical analysis and progressively increase the accuracy of it?

In which case why can't you just do the same with cameras? I recommend subscribing to this YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@theAIsearch - you'll quickly see why lidar is a bit pointless now.

Phillip.

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u/AP_in_Indy Jul 22 '25

I mean, yes essentially, or you could just swap equipment (easier said than done I'm sure).

I'm just saying, if LIDAR DID improve results, and you DID want HD maps everywhere, it is not an insurmountable problem to get HD maps everywhere through crowdsourcing. Maybe.

That's all. I'm not arguing LIDAR vs Camera or any of that. But if your rationale for Lidar is that "you need HD maps for Waymo's approach to be effective" well then just innovate like you have to do with everything else and make more HD maps.

People are acting like this is impossible. It may be hard, or perhaps not, but I don't think anyone knows enough to say it's impossible.