---
title: "Velodyne Just Cut the Price of Its Most Popular Lidar Sensor in Half"
description: "But will that make self-driving cars affordable?"
date: "2018-01-02"
modified: "2018-01-02"
authors:
  - name: "Stephen Edelstein"
    job_title: "Weekend Editor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/stephen-edelstein"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/tech/17297/velodyne-just-cut-the-price-of-its-most-popular-lidar-sensor-in-half"
categories:
  - "Car Tech"
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Autonomous Cars"
  - "lidar"
  - "self-driving cars"
  - "Tech"
  - "Velodyne"
---

# Velodyne Just Cut the Price of Its Most Popular Lidar Sensor in Half

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2018/01/vlp-16_hovermap_001.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Velodyne is slashing the price of what the company describes as its most popular [lidar sensor](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/15567/meet-the-inventor-trying-to-bring-lidar-to-the-masses>), the VLP-16 Puck, in half. Given that lidar is [among the most expensive components](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/12856/fully-autonomous-cars-will-cost-hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars-silicon-valley-exec-says>) of self-driving cars, the price reduction could help facilitate widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles.

When it first went on sale in 2016, the VLP-16 Puck retailed for around $8,000, so customers will now pay about $4,000 for one. A single VLP-16 can scan 360 degrees around a vehicle, at a range of up to 100 meters (328 feet). Even before the price cut, the VLP-16 was positioned as a more cost-effective alternative to Velodyne's higher-performance VLP-32 Ultra Puck, HDL-32 and HDL-64, both of which offer more capability. The HDL-64, for example, emits four times the number of lasers as the VLP-16.

Velodyne says it was able to lower the VLP-16's price because of its new "megafactory" in San Jose, California. The factory, which opened in 2017, helped streamline the manufacturing process, Velodyne said in a press release.

Along with cameras and radar, lidar, ([which works like radar](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/16916/lidar-vs-radar-pros-and-cons-of-different-autonomous-driving-technologies>) but uses light instead of radio waves), is part of the holy trinity of sensors that allow most self-driving cars to function. Of the three sensors, lidar has been subject to the most intense development efforts as companies look to integrate with future production self-driving cars. [Several startups](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/16855/startup-aeyes-hybrid-sensor-is-designed-to-help-autonomous-cars-see-better>) have emerged to challenge Velodyne's leadership, and Waymo and Uber are developing their own systems in-house. Those efforts are [now wrapped up](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/9606/waymo-claims-uber-hid-lidar-sensors-based-on-its-tech>) in the court case [between the two companies](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/16505/judge-postpones-uber-waymo-trial-after-new-allegations-of-spying-by-uber>).

For self-driving cars to be affordable, lidar will have to be affordable. Velodyne has taken an important step toward that goal, but there is still a long way to go. The VLP-16 is the company's entry-level sensor, and production self-driving cars may require more elaborate hardware to function as intended. Despite its big new factory, Velodyne is still supplying units primarily to small-scale development efforts. If automakers start [rolling self-driving cars off their assembly lines](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/16777/fords-upcoming-self-driving-car-will-be-commercial-grade>) at scale, will Velodyne be able to keep up?

## Author
Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he's not handling weekend coverage for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/SAEdelstein>)