For years, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has refused to use radar and lidar sensors on his self-driving cars, saying they're a "crutch." He claims it's not just a cost issue, but is adamant that only using visual cameras to let Tesla's autonomous driving software see the world around it is actually safer than the alternative.

It's a topic Musk has been revisiting lately. Last week, he attacked his rivals like Waymo for relying on lidar and radar along with vision — even though the Google-backed company's cars are currently considered to be far more autonomous than Tesla's. He claimed that "Waymos can't drive on highways," which isn't true: the company has been testing the robotaxis on highways in Phoenix, Arizona, since 2024 with a human employee behind the wheel, but isn't taking paying customers

See Full Page