Mobileye looks to build its own lidar to drive down AV costs

The CEO of Intel Corp-owned Mobileye on Tuesday laid out plans for a self-driving car system for 2025 that could use house-built lidar sensors rather than units from Luminar Technologies Inc. Luminar shares closed down 17.6 percent after Reuters reported the move. In November, Mobileye signed a supply agreement with Luminar to use its lidar units in the first generation of Mobileye's driverless vehicle fleet. Luminar told Reuters that there has been no change to that agreement and that Luminar has also supplied lidar units for Mobileye development vehicles for nearly two years. Luminar said its units, which are only one part of Mobileye's broader self-driving system costs, are priced at less than $1,000 and exceed Mobileye's cost and performance requirements. Amnon Shashua, CEO of Mobileye and an Intel senior vice president, told Reuters that Mobileye's first generation of full self-driving kits -- which will include Luminar's lidar units along with a range of other chips, sensors and software -- will cost between $10,000 and $20,000.