Rivian Will Add Lidar in 2026, Says Tesla's Cameras Aren't Enough

Posted by belter 21 hours ago

2424Original

Comments

Comment by BugsJustFindMe 20 hours ago

Cameras could do it if:

* they were positioned for stereopsis like the human visual system

* had 6 degrees of motion freedom like the human visual system

* were hyper-adaptive to lighting conditions like the human visual system

* had a significantly higher density of pixels per degree of arc in the focus region like the human visual system

* and were backed by a system capable of intuiting object inertia like the human visual system.

Tesla does none of those.

Comment by SirMaster 20 hours ago

Even if cameras can do it, it feels wrong to not use tech that can do it better that vision alone. Even if it costs more, it should still be used because these are machines that can kill people, and life is too valuable. If it can't be done the best we can, then maybe it shouldn't be done at all yet.

Comment by thejazzman 19 hours ago

Some people live in brick houses and others in trailers or worse. It’s just not how the reality of the world works. The reality is we’re lucky to even have the luxury of a warm trailer relative to the chaos and pain of nature.

Comment by dzhiurgis 18 hours ago

> feels wrong

Reductio ad absurdum.

EVs are safer, why we haven't banned ICE vehicles yet?

How about screening every food item in supermarket for chemicals and pathogens. Surely that will minimize excess death?

Lot's of things can be "best we can", ask yourself why it's not done yet.

Comment by ksclarke 15 hours ago

The corporation's risk assessment department has calculated it's more cost effective to deny and then fight the consequences in court vs. spend the extra money up front?

Comment by hnburnsy 17 hours ago

Volvo just abandoned LIDAR.

On a different note TIL learned that Tesla uses the raw camera sensor data and creates an occupancy network, instead of using images and object detection, which feels like to me that Tesla isn't really using vision.

Comment by neilalexander 5 hours ago

As I understand it, Volvo's relationship with Luminar broke down, not that there was an obvious problem with the technology itself.

Comment by inkspotch 21 hours ago

Cameras can do it, but more instruments are better. Planes use more than the eyes of the pilot.

Comment by glintik 18 hours ago

Birds use eyes only

Comment by general1465 18 hours ago

That's why we are putting those bird stickers on any transparent surface outside, like noise cancelling walls around roads or bus stations.

Comment by DaveZale 21 hours ago

Sadly, Morgan Stanley suggests that the release of this information may result in invoking the "Osbourne Effect." Osbourne Computer, decades ago, released information about a great new future model. This resulted in customers refraining from buying the current Osbourne model, resulting in steep losses and bankruptcy. Not to say bankruptcy will happen to Rivian, but many customers may refrain from buying the current R1 model, and instead opt for the future R2 model, which may result in a bad quarter or two for Rivian. FWIW. Rivian seems to have amazing technology in the works, but investors may be in for a bumpy ride until a successful R2 rollout ... according to Morgan Stanley (which may be conflicted by their business with Tesla).

Comment by rationalist 19 hours ago

I'm not sure how informed most consumers are these days.

Comment by snowwrestler 18 hours ago

I was going to say the opposite: that unlike back in the Osbourne days, consumers today understand that there will always be “something better” announced soon, and they’re used to making purchase decisions anyway.

Comment by belter 21 hours ago

>>Morgan Stanley suggests that the release of this information may result in invoking the "Osbourne Effect." Osbourne Computer, decades ago, released information about a great new future model. This resulted in customers refraining from buying the current Osbourne model, resulting in steep losses and bankruptcy.

Sadly that did not work for Tesla, and the promises of FSD next year...for the last 10 years...

Comment by hollasch 20 hours ago

FSD is a software feature, planned for support on existing hardware. Over-the-air hardware updates are not so easy.

Comment by thejazzman 19 hours ago

It’s literally called the FSD computer and the software is called “supervised”. So if anything they’re directly claiming it’s a hardware accomplishment while the software is lesser

Comment by belter 20 hours ago

Those were claims already dismissed:

"Tesla (TSLA) has to replace computer in ~4 million cars or compensate their owners" - https://electrek.co/2025/04/14/tesla-tsla-replace-computer-4...

Comment by dzhiurgis 18 hours ago

If you think FSD is solely limited by LIDAR I have some news to you - Waymo does most of its driving on cameras.

Comment by ChrisArchitect 21 hours ago

[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46234920

Comment by belter 21 hours ago

Different article on the same subject.

Maybe focus on these:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46291500

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46291156