Is Tesla Warming Up To Lidar?

Shares of Luminar Technologies, Inc. LAZR, a provider of lidar hardware and software, are extending the momentum the stock showed last week. 

What Happened: The follow-on buying in Luminar shares in Monday's session comes after the stock spiked over 10% Thursday.

Tesla has a contract to use lidar tech from Luminar for testing and development as part of the agreement between the companies,  Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Last week's gains came after Grayson Brulte, co-founder of Brulte & Company, an autonomous mobility advisory and consulting firm, tweeted that a Tesla, Inc. TSLA Model Y with California manufacturing plates was spotted with lidar.

Spotted in Palm Beach, Florida. A @Tesla Model Y with #LiDAR and CA Manufacturing (MFG) Plates. Can anyone offer details/insights? pic.twitter.com/5Uh4WU0U41

— Grayson Brulte (@gbrulte) May 20, 2021

In a reply to the tweet, Sam Abuelsamid, an e-mobility analyst with Guidehouse Insights, said Tesla is probably using the vehicle for testing, as it is equipped with four Hydra sensors manufactured by Luminar.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles has confirmed the manufacturer's license plate on the photographed vehicle belongs to Tesla, Bloomberg reported. The same manufacturer's plate has been spotted on other Tesla vehicles, including a prototype of the forthcoming Cybertruck, the report said. 

Why It's Important: Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a not a fan of lidar technology. He's previously said lidar "is a fool's errand … and anyone relying on lidar is doomed."

The EV maker instead relies on computer vision, a field of AI that trains computers to understand the visual world.

Twitterati were quick to point out that lidar is used by Tesla to help calibrate a camera vision-based system and is unlikely to be used in production.

At last check, Luminar shares were rising 2.15% to $21.87.