Tesla, Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk is no fan of lidar, and in the past he has minced no words in expressing his dislike for the autonomous driving technology.
What Happened: Musk returned to lidar bashing yet again last week. The Tesla CEO said lidar is a "seductive local maximum."
He clarified that his space exploration company SpaceX designed it and used it to dock with the International Space Station. Musk's comments came in reply to a tweet by Whole Mars Catalog, a pro-Tesla EV news channel.
Offering explanation as to why lidar won't work for EVs, Musk said the road system was designed to work with biological neural nets and our eyes. A general solution to self-driving necessarily will require "silicon neural nets & cameras," he added.
He termed it as "real-world AI."
Gary Black, managing partner of Future Fund, pointed out in reply that no competitors use lidar alone — it's used in addition to cameras and neural nets, he said.
A YouTuber who goes by the twitter handle @CarAutonomy said a day will come when Musk will "backtrack" on this.
Related Link: Tesla Facing Increasing Competition From These 2 Carmakers: Report
The Lidar Vs Camera Debate: Lidar has polarized the EV industry, with those arguing for lidar plus camera systems suggesting it is the best option for level four and level five autonomy, which allows vehicles to operate in self-driving mode without much human interaction.
Alphabet, Inc.'s GOOGL GOOG self-driving unit Waymo and General Motors Corporation's GM Cruise, and more recently Chinese EV startups such as XPeng, Inc. XPEV, have all pledged allegiance to lidar tech.
Those defending the technology argue that it can map surroundings and also measure object velocity, while also offering long and wide visual ranges. It is seen as more suitable to companies building mobility services using fully self-driving vehicles.
On the other hand, Tesla uses camera vision and neural net processing, collectively called Tesla Vision, to deliver the company's Autopilot and full-self driving as well as some active safety features.
All Model 3 and Model Y vehicles delivered in North America were transitioned to Tesla Vision in May 2021. The company recent announced that as of mid-February, all Model S and Model X vehicles built for the North American market will also use Tesla Vision.
At last check, Tesla shares were rallying 6.69% to $864.03.
Photo courtesy of Tesla.
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