Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has said that lidar devices are a “crutch” for self-driving cars. In fact, his company has bought so many from Luminar that it is now their biggest buyer.
In the first quarter of 2024, Tesla brought in “more than 10%,” or a little more than $2 million, of Luminar’s income, the lidar company said in its earnings report released Tuesday.
Luminar said that its sales dropped 5% from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the current quarter. It mostly said this was because “lower sensor sales to non-automotive customers.” But “sensor sales to Tesla, which was our largest lidar customer in Q1,” made up for that drop. Luminar also said that their sales were up 45% year-over-year.
In the first quarter, the company had a net loss of $125.7 million, which is less than the $146.7 million it lost during the same time last year. Luminar said that its net loss was due to faster wear and tear on equipment that will be thrown away because of leasing plans that began in the fall of 2023.
The results came out just a few days after Luminar announced that it was cutting its staff by 20%. As part of the restructuring, the company will outsource a lot of the production of its lidar devices in order to grow the business.
Lidar and other sensors have been seen on some of Tesla’s test cars, and the company is said to have worked with Luminar as early as 2021. The deal’s specifics have never been made public. Luminar included Tesla in its earnings report because, according to the company, it names customers who account for 10% or more of its sales. This is in line with past SEC guidance. The new information comes just a few months before August 8, when Tesla is supposed to show off a robotaxi.
Musk has long said that depending on lidar to help self-driving cars find their way is a “fool’s errand.” “Anyone relying on lidar is doomed!” he said at Tesla’s “Autonomy Day” event in 2019.
He said at the time, “Those sensors are expensive and don’t need to be there.” “It’s like having a bunch of expensive extra parts.” Since having one appendix is bad, having a bunch of them is even worse. You’ll see what I mean.
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Musk also said at that event in 2019 that Tesla would release a fleet of robotaxis in just one year. That did not happen. Musk is still getting crutches instead.
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