---
title: "This $500 Lidar System Could Prove Elon Musk Wrong"
description: "Startup Luminar has announceda production-ready lidar system for autonomous cars that costs just $500 — a huge decrease in price over existing systems."
date: "2019-07-11"
modified: "2019-07-11"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/500-lidar-system-prove-elon-musk-wrong"
categories:
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Future Society"
  - "The Industrialists"
tags:
  - "elon musk"
  - "lidar"
  - "luminar"
  - "tesla"
  - "the digest"
---

# This $500 Lidar System Could Prove Elon Musk Wrong

![Startup Luminar has announceda production-ready lidar system for autonomous cars that costs just $500 — a huge decrease in price over existing systems.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/500-lidar-system-prove-elon-musk-wrong.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Luminar/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Fool's Errand

Lidar is a radar-like technology that uses laser pulses to create a 3D-map of its environment. [Many see it](<https://www.wired.com/story/lidar-self-driving-cars-luminar-video/>) as integral to the development of self-driving cars — but [not Elon Musk](<https://futurism.com/elon-musk-lidar-tech-autonomous-vehicles>).

"Lidar is a fool’s errand," he [told attendees](<https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/22/anyone-relying-on-lidar-is-doomed-elon-musk-says/>) at Tesla's Autonomy Day in April. "Anyone relying on lidar is doomed. Doomed! \[They are\] expensive sensors that are unnecessary... it’s ridiculous, you’ll see."

Whether lidar is necessary or not, startup Luminar is ready to prove Musk wrong on at least one count: the technology is no longer expensive.

## Cheap Lidar

On Thursday, Luminar [announced Iris](<https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190711005233/en/Luminar-Drives-Expansion-Automotive-Market-250-Million>), a production-ready lidar system with a starting price of just $500 — a huge price slash over the [$75,000 lidar sytem](<https://www.wired.com/story/lidar-cheap-make-self-driving-reality/>) produced by [leading developer Velodyne](<https://www.roboticsbusinessreview.com/unmanned/unmanned-ground/velodyne-touts-latest-lidar-advances-autonomous-vehicle-partnerships/>).

"With the release of Iris, Luminar uniquely offers a LiDAR solution that meets the performance, safety and cost metrics that OEMs require to commercialize autonomous vehicles," Ben Kortlang, founding partner at Luminar investor G2VP, said in a [press release](<https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190711005233/en/Luminar-Drives-Expansion-Automotive-Market-250-Million>). "Luminar’s product is the enabling technology that will put autonomous vehicles on the road sooner than we expected."

## Race to Autonomy

Luminar expects to see its lidar system in commercial vehicles in 2022. Which, for perspective, is a full two years after Musk plans to have fleets of [autonomous Tesla robotaxis](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/teslas-plans-robotaxis-network-nonsense>) ferrying passengers around.

If Musk meets that goal, it'll prove that lidar really isn't necessary for full autonomy — but it seems he can no longer make the argument that it's too expensive.

**READ MORE:** [THIS LIDAR IS SO CHEAP IT COULD MAKE SELF-DRIVING A REALITY](<https://www.wired.com/story/lidar-cheap-make-self-driving-reality/>) \[*Wired*\]

**More on lidar:** *[Elon Musk Calls out LIDAR Tech as “a Crutch” in Autonomous Vehicles](<https://futurism.com/elon-musk-lidar-tech-autonomous-vehicles>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)