Everyone whose opinion counts on the matter knows lidar is central; crucial; indispensable, and utterly necessary for an effective, safe, real autonomous vehicle. Tesla CEO Elon Musk disagrees; he says lidar is for losers, even as he’s been unable to deliver any actual self-driving and his cars have an alarming track record of behaving badly in traffic. Now Tesla’s dream is coming true—for Xpeng, whose G9 is entering mass production.
The G9 has two RoboSense front lidars and can be configured as a robotaxi with just software-only changes.
That sounds more like winning to us.
All over the automotive sector, lidar is going from strength to strength. Major Chinese lidar supplier Hesai is now profitable, and they’re becoming a global supplier—they’re opening a European R&D center in Stuttgart, Germany.
And lidar integration is evolving at a quick pace, too, with behind-the-windshield placement increasingly popular; see our interview with Wideye’s Raed El-Makhour in this edition of your DVN-L Newsletter.
Also in this edition, we’ve hurried to bring you the first report of our Lidar Deep Dive II, held 6 June in Wiesbaden, with a focus on short-range lidar requirements and optical innovations.
Be sure and save the dates for these forthcoming high-content, high-value DVN Lidar events:
- DVN-L Deep Dive III (USA): 29-30 August in the San Francisco Bay area
- DVN-L Conference (Europe): 29-30 November in Wiesbaden, Germany
We’re ever so glad you’re here with us in the DVN-Lidar community. Enjoy this twelfth newsletter!
All best,
Alain Servel
DVN LIDAR SENIOR ADVISOR