Tesla VS Waymo – Who Will Win the Race to Full Self Driving? + LiDAR VS Computer Vision.

The race to autonomy: Tesla VS Waymo. Which company will be the first to full self driving? Many people are predicting that this will be the year of self driving cars. Whether they are right or wrong, full self driving cars are in the near future.

When it comes to self-driving technology, both Waymo and Tesla are pioneers, but they’re taking different approaches, and that affects their progress toward fully autonomous vehicles.

Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet (Google’s parent company), is often considered one of the leaders in self-driving technology. Their focus is on developing fully autonomous vehicles, or Level 5 autonomy (no human intervention needed). Waymo’s vehicles rely heavily on lidar (light detection and ranging), radar, and cameras to create a detailed, 360-degree map of the environment. They’ve been testing and deploying autonomous ride-hailing services in select cities for years, such as in Phoenix, Arizona. Waymo also has a cautious approach, preferring to roll out its technology slowly and methodically. As of now, Waymo has fully driverless cars on the road (without a safety driver).

Tesla’s vs Waymo’s underlying technologies!

On the other hand, Tesla is pushing for a different goal: they want to achieve Level 2 and Level 3 autonomy, where the car can handle some aspects of driving, but a human driver must still be available to take over when needed. Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) systems rely mostly on cameras and machine learning to interpret the environment. Tesla aims for a more gradual rollout of advanced features with the hope that one day, through over-the-air updates, the vehicles could approach full autonomy. However, Tesla’s system still requires constant driver supervision and has faced criticism for being overhyped and sometimes unsafe.

Tesla vs Waymo SELF DRIVING CAR Tech Compared + LiDAR vs Tesla Vision

In short:

Waymo is working toward full autonomy (Level 5), with no human needed in the car.
Tesla is advancing through partial autonomy (Level 2 and 3), with a heavy reliance on human oversight.

Waymo may be ahead in terms of fully autonomous vehicles, especially when considering their real-world testing, but Tesla has a much larger fleet on the road, which could help them achieve greater levels of autonomy more quickly over time.

What’s your take on it? Do you think Tesla’s approach will get there faster, or do you trust Waymo’s method more?

Self-Driving Car Quotes

“Self-driving cars are the natural extension of active safety and obviously something we should do.” ~Elon Musk
“Our survey suggests that even among those who work on transport technology day in day out there are clear differences of opinion on timescales and benefits of autonomous vehicles.” ~Jennie Martin
“The key with autonomous is the whole ecosystem. One of the keys to having a truly fully autonomous is vehicles talking to each other.” ~Mary Barra, GM CEO.
“We have to rethink urban transportation. Automated driving will help us complete the picture of future urban traffic.” ~Dr. Stephan Hönle
“Self-driving cars will reshape our cities and our lives, in the process creating tens of thousands of new jobs for those who have the right skills.” ~Jeff Maggioncalda
“The safe integration of automated vehicle technology into our transportation system will increase productivity, facilitate freight movement and create new types of jobs.” ~Elaine Chao
“Once you trust a self-driving car with your life, you pretty much will trust artificial intelligence with anything.” ~Dave Waters
“This decade, for the auto industry, will be defined by the automation of the vehicle. From our standpoint, we see autonomous vehicles as the potential to have the same societal impact that Ford’s moving assembly line did more than 100 years ago.” ~Mark Fields
“If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 MPG.” ~Bill Gates
“We need to educate motorists on the benefits of autonomous vehicles because consumer trust will be vital to their success.” ~David Williams
“The vehicles will be self-driving. So you have your own person space where you can sit back and relax.” ~John Krafcik, CEO Waymo.
“Autonomous vehicles are nowhere near as smart as they need to be. Safety features – including manual override – must be top priority.” ~Richard Blumenthal
“The mobility landscape is changing: Driverless cars, electric vehicles, e-scooters and even robots are coming to our streets. But we still haven’t fixed our nation’s infrastructure.” ~Brooks Rainwater
“Deep Learning will change the lives of all of us. What is Deep Learning? It’s behind what makes self-driving cars a reality.” ~ Dave Waters
“Many Americans are far from being convinced that self-driving cars can be operated safely on our streets.” ~Daniel Durazo