>> Doesn't look unsightly to me. Also given that every car company and self driving car uses LiDAR suggests that over time the costs will come due to economies

>> Doesn't look unsightly to me. Also given that every car company and self driving car uses LiDAR suggests that over time the costs will come due to economies of scale. This has been predicted for radar units over optical in other industries. It never happened. Optical became cheap and capable, radar stayed slow and expensive. I see no reason why this would change in car manufacturing.