A Fatal Tesla Crash Shows the Limits of “Full Self-Driving”
Other automakers and autonomous-driving technology companies also use radar and lidar, which emit energy — in lidar’s case, laser pulses traveling at the speed of light — to detect the distance of surrounding objects. As active sensors that generate their own signals, they’re not affected by external lighting conditions and function better than cameras in direct sunlight.
One advantage cameras have over both radar and lidar is cost. Analysts at BloombergNEF estimated in a report late last year that the sensor suite on a Tesla Model 3 costs just $400. The researcher said that the 24 sensors on the Jaguar I-Pace SUVs that Waymo had deployed in states including Arizona cost 23 times more: roughly $9,300 per vehicle.
“The issue with Waymo’s cars is they cost way more money,” Musk said during Tesla’s most recent earnings call in April.
Elon skimping on sensors to save money should be criminal. He endangered the lives of everyone on the road, and he knows it.