PALO ALTO, U.S. — Luminar Technologies has begun the production of its high-performance light detection and ranging (lidar) sensors on a commercial basis after five years in the “stealth mode” stage of research and development. The American technology company eyes building a new factory in Asia and will seek to lower the cost of each sensor to $100.
While busy preparations were underway for the CES technology show at a hotel in Las Vegas in early January, Luminar founder and CEO Austin Russell pointed to an electric vehicle in a room, saying, “This is the first commercial production car with high-performance lidar to enable proactive safety and highway autonomous capabilities.”