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At the time he made the no-lidar decree, it made a lot of sense. He was building a $50k car, so the whole self driving ability had to cost $500-$1000 in tota
by londons_explore 3y ago
At the time he made the no-lidar decree, it made a lot of sense. He was building a $50k car, so the whole self driving ability had to cost $500-$1000 in total added parts cost.
That includes the cameras, computer, and actuators for brake and steering.
There was no way that would pay for a lidar in 2015.
And, it is a fairly cheap decision to reverse when lidar becomes $50 or less - just sell/give a camera replacement kit.
- ito9 3y agoFinancial sense and technical sense are two different things. Elon’s BSc is economics. His physics degree is a BA. He seems to think physics is like fiat economics where you can spin the numbers however you want to make them work. Physics isn’t as flexible and he didn’t put the work required into experiment to see why.
- londons_explore 3y agoOh yeah - technically it made the self driving problem much harder (maybe impossible). But that doesn't matter - like I said, you can always retrofit if needed, or just settle lawsuits with a refund in the worst case. In the meantime, the fact that "these cars will be able to self drive, no others will", is selling more cars, even if it may never be true.