Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that lidar sensors are a “crutch” for self sustaining automobiles. However his corporate has purchased such a lot of from Luminar that Tesla is now the lidar-maker’s manage buyer.
Tesla accounted for “more than 10%” of Luminar’s income within the first quarter of 2024, or a modest greater than $2 million, the lidar-maker revealed Tuesday in its first-quarter income document.
Luminar reported that its income fell 5% from the fourth quarter of 2023, which it most commonly attributed to “lower sensor sales to non-automotive customers.” That shed was once “offset by sensor sales to Tesla, which was our largest lidar customer in Q1.” Luminar additionally famous a forty five% acquire in income year-over-year.
The corporate had a internet lack of $125.7 million within the first quarter, an development from the $146.7 million in losses it reported in the similar length latter 12 months. Luminar mentioned its internet loss integrated speeded up depreciation for apparatus anticipated to be alone due
to sure outsourcing movements initiated in fall 2023.
Luminar absolved its effects only a few days next pronouncing plans to slash its workforce by 20%, in a restructuring that can see it outsource a lot of the manufacturing of its lidar sensors in a bid to scale the industry.
Tesla has been noticed the usage of lidar and alternative sensors on a few of its check automobiles, and has been reportedly been in a partnership with Luminar way back to 2021. Main points of the trade in have by no means been disclosed and Luminar didn’t give an explanation for why it was once sharing the ideas now. The unused disclosure comes simply months ahead of Tesla is predicted to reveal a robotaxi on August 8.
Musk has lengthy argued that depending on lidar to backup self sustaining vehicles navigate the arena is a “fool’s errand.” He said at Tesla’s “Autonomy Day” match in 2019 that “anyone relying on lidar is doomed!”
“[They are] expensive sensors that are unnecessary,” he mentioned on the life. “It’s like having a whole bunch of expensive appendices. Like, one appendix is bad, well now you have a whole bunch of them, it’s ridiculous, you’ll see.”
After all, Musk additionally said at that match in 2019 that Tesla would foundation a fleet of robotaxis in only one 12 months. That by no means came about. In lieu, Musk remains to be purchasing crutches.
