Luminar Technologies, a producer of lidar sensors for autonomous vehicles, revealed that Tesla was its largest customer in the first quarter of this year. Despite Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s previous criticism of lidar technology, which he once dubbed “expensive appendices,” the electric vehicle giant accounted for over 10% of Luminar’s total revenue of $21 million during the period.
Musk has been vocal about his skepticism regarding lidar, stating in 2019 that “Lidar is a fools’ errand. And anyone relying on Lidar is doomed.” Tesla, known for its reliance on cameras for its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving software, has steered clear of using lidar in its vehicles, opting instead for a vision-based approach.
Speculation regarding Tesla’s potential use of lidar was sparked by images of Tesla vehicles equipped with lidar sensors, circulating on social media. However, Tesla has consistently denied these claims, reiterating that it continues to test and calibrate its camera, sonar, and radar systems against other sensors.
Despite the success with Tesla, Luminar faced a loss of $10.46 million in the first quarter. This setback led the Florida-based company to announce a workforce reduction of approximately 20% and a shift away from in-house manufacturing as part of its restructuring plans.
While Tesla is making strides in the autonomous driving arena, with Musk even hinting at the unveiling of a robotaxi in August, other players in the industry, such as GM’s Cruise, have faced challenges, leading to scaled-back investments. Despite these challenges, the race for autonomous driving technology continues, with lidar playing a crucial role for many companies, even as Tesla remains committed to its vision-based approach.
