LiDAR can handle autonomous vehicle corner cases, but automakers lag behind

LiDAR developers, and the autonomous vehicle (AV) world at large, may have received a shock recently when some news sources suggested that Nissan would not be pursuing the technology for use in self-driving vehicles. Tetsuya Iijima, General Manager of Advanced Technology for Automated Driving, was quoted by Reuters as saying: “at the moment, LiDAR lacks the capabilities to exceed the capabilities of the latest technology in radar and cameras”, further noting an “imbalance” between cost and capabilities. Many, although not Reuters, drew comparisons with Tesla’s position: Elon Musk remains convinced the technology is unnecessary for Level 5 automation.