Elon Musk he was there for a long time a fan of, well, lying, and now it seems very possible that he has once again been caught in a little lie. CEO of Tesla was criticism of lidar sensors for autonomous vehicles for some time now. He even went so far as to say that other automakers were going to “ditch lidar.” […] Mark my words.” Well, people, it turns out, Tesla indeed it may be using lidars for seniors.
Lidar during delivery Lightweight TechnologiesThe first quarter earnings report on May 7 stated that “Tesla was our largest lidar customer” in the first quarter of 2024, according to Automotive news. Lol, mom. Over 10 percent airy up The quarterly revenue is attributable to Tesla sales, the company said.
This all adds up to approximately $2.1 million lidarbased on Luminar revenues of $21 million in the first quarter, Edge reports. Automaker from Austin, Texas I bought so much lidar shine that this helped offset the quarter-on-quarter decline in revenue. As an added little bonus, just like that TeslaLuminar is also going through some of its own rounds of layoffs.
Here more on lidar purchase and Musk’s thoughts on technology, from Edge: :
It’s a remarkable turnaround for Tesla, which for years has famously reduced the number of sensors used to power advanced driver-assist features such as Autopilot and fully autonomous driving – features that Musk has consistently marketed as a precursor to a fully autonomous vehicle. Vehicle fleet. Tesla is expected to unveil a robotaxi prototype later this year, based on which Musk is betting on the future of his company.
Musk’s lidar allergy was even revealed during Tesla’s quarterly earnings call, during which he boasted that its vehicles exclusively operate camera-based vision systems to power driver-assist features.
“It is clear that our solution with a relatively inexpensive inference computer and standard cameras can provide autonomous driving,” Musk said. “No lidar, no radar, ultrasonic. Nothing.”
To be fair Teslawe don’t really know what that $2.1 million is lidar will be in. We’ve reached out to Tesla for comment, but the tape on their answering machine is likely full.
They’re here Edgewhat I think about it, because the author of this story knows a lot more about Lidar than I do:
Even if Tesla uses Luminar’s lidar to test full autonomous driving capabilities in preparation for its robotaxi launch, it’s still Very from lidar. According to Luminar, individual lidar sensors cost about $1,000, including software. Did Tesla buy 2,100 lidars for its vehicles? Maybe! The company is quietly operating an autonomous test fleet in multiple cities, including San Francisco and Las Vegas. Does it intend to retrofit these company-owned vehicles with Luminar lidar? If that happens, people will notice – just like they noticed the Model Y in Florida a few years ago. We will soon find out whether these vehicles will hit the roads.
It seems clear that Tesla is changing its approach to lidar, even if publicly Musk remains opposed to lidar. Eventually, the CEO himself may have to swallow his pride and admit that lasers are indeed gravy.
Historically, Lidar it’s the most high-priced sensor in vehicles, and according to Musk, that’s one of the main reasons Musk isn’t a fan of it Automatic messages. In 2020 Musk he said: “It’s bloody stupid in cars. It’s high-priced and unnecessary. You have high-priced equipment that is worthless in your car.
Masterful catch, sir.
