FYI: Diverging perspectives highlight the ongoing debate over Lidar’s role in autonomous driving, with Li Auto suggesting a unique advantage in nighttime driving on China’s highways.
Li Auto Challenges Elon Musk’s Stance on Lidar
Li Xiang, CEO of Li Auto, suggests that Elon Musk might reconsider his stance against using Lidar technology for self-driving vehicles if he were to navigate China’s highways at night. This statement introduces a fresh angle to the ongoing debate on the necessity of Lidar in autonomous driving systems.
Li Auto’s Perspective on Lidar
According to Li, Lidar is crucial for ensuring safety in China’s unique driving conditions. He emphasized that, on China’s roads, especially at night, large trucks may operate with broken taillights or might even be stationary on the main routes without proper signaling. He noted that while cameras typically have a visibility limit of 100 meters, Lidar extends this range to 200 meters, providing a broader safety net for autonomous vehicles.
Li Auto continues to prioritize Lidar as a key technology for its family-oriented vehicles, ensuring safety is paramount. "For us, Lidar is non-negotiable in our current and future models," Li stated, underscoring the importance his company places on this technology for protecting passengers in their vehicles.
The Tesla Approach: Cameras Over Lidar
Contrasting with Li Auto’s perspective, Elon Musk remains a notable critic of Lidar for self-driving cars. Tesla’s strategy, led by its CEO, proceeds with Tesla Vision, which leverages cameras combined with artificial intelligence to achieve autonomous driving capabilities. Tesla Vision’s latest version, Full Self-Driving (Supervised) V13, has received commendations from users, reinforcing Musk’s belief in the prowess of vision-based systems.
Musk describes Lidar as an unnecessary "crutch" for autonomous driving, confident that camera technology, paired with sophisticated algorithms, is sufficient. Although Lidar is employed in other Musk ventures such as SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, it has no place in his vision for Tesla’s self-driving technology.
Conclusion
The debate between the adoption of Lidar versus camera-based systems in self-driving technology underscores a fundamental divergence in approach. As Tesla continues on its path with camera reliance under Musk’s leadership, Li Auto, and other Chinese manufacturers, embrace Lidar to navigate the distinctive driving environment of Chinese roadways. This ongoing discussion indicates a future where different technologies might coexist, each finding its place depending on the unique challenges presented in varying global contexts.
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William Kouch, Editor
Automotive.fyi
