Chinese electric car company Xpeng will use LiDAR sensors in its mass-market vehicles that are produced in 2021. The announcement from Xpeng came on Friday and deviated the company away from the current lawsuit that Tesla has against one of its former employees who took Autopilot sourcing code to the Chinese car company.
LiDAR is a strategy that utilizes light detection and ranging to determine self-driving accuracy. The strategy is advantageous in certain environments that offer sufficient lighting, but an automaker has never used it before now. The waves it uses to capture imagery is more ideal for higher precision driving, but it is costly. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, once called the use of LiDAR “a fool’s errand,” and has consistently cited it as the wrong approach to developing self-driving techniques. “[They are] expensive sensors that are unnecessary,” Musk added when talking about the use of LiDAR to develop self-driving cars.
Musk’s opinions won’t convince Xpeng to shy away from using it, however. CEO He Xiaopeng said the LiDAR tech is “a breakthrough in popularising autonomous driving.” Xpeng said in a statement that using the technology will “significantly improve” the accuracy of its tech by holding the ability to recognize vehicles and other objects, making it safer and more defined on the company’s quest to a fully self-driving car.
The company’s announcement regarding the use of LiDAR counteracts with the current lawsuit Tesla holds against one of its former employees who went to Xpeng. Cao Guangzhi, a former Tesla Autopilot team engineer, was accused of stealing sourcing code from the Silicon Valley-based automaker and giving it to Xpeng for money. The lawsuit hit a standstill when Tesla was denied access to grand jury materials related to a former Apple employee, Zhang Xiaolang, who left the tech company for Xpeng.
But Xpeng’s adoption of LiDAR shows that Tesla’s sourcing code may not have been desirable to the Chinese automaker. Either that or the company couldn’t figure out what Tesla was doing with AP, as it is extremely complex and constantly improving thanks to the Neural Network. Musk stated in a Tweet on Friday morning that Xpeng has an old version of Tesla’s software, which is outdated, less complex, and not as functional as the current versions of AP. Additionally, Xpeng does not have the advantages of a Neural Network, which uses data compiled from every mile driven to improve its self-driving performance.
They have an old version of our software & don’t have our NN inference computer
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2020
Musk made it clear that Xpeng was the only Chinese company that attempted to utilize Tesla’s AP source code, which was not open-sourced and was taken without the automaker’s consent.
Regardless, Xpeng is happy with using LiDAR as it believes it will offer a “nearly tenfold increase in computing power” and “centimeter-level accuracy.” While Xpeng will be the first car company to use LiDAR, it will not be the first autonomous driving entity to utilize the tech. Waymo uses the tech and is selling its own LiDAR systems as of 2019.
The expensive cost of LiDAR is sure to drive up Xpeng’s vehicles’ price, but the company did not want to indicate how much its 2021 vehicles that will equip the technology will set back consumers.
Originally reported by the South China Morning Post.
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Tesla bolsters App with new safety, insurance, and storage features
The Tesla Smartphone App is one of the biggest and best features and advantages owners have. Everything from moving the vehicle with Summon, to getting Navigation sent to the car, to preconditioning the cabin can be done with the Tesla App.
Tesla is bolstering its smartphone App with a series of new features to streamline operations for owners. The new additions include fixes to safety, its in-house insurance offering, and storage management for Dashcam clips.
The Tesla Smartphone App is one of the biggest and best features and advantages owners have. Everything from moving the vehicle with Summon, to getting Navigation sent to the car, to preconditioning the cabin can be done with the Tesla App.
But in classic Tesla fashion, the company is aiming to improve the offerings of the app, and it is doing so with a handful of new features. They were first discovered by Tesla App Updates.
Tesla Insurance – Safety Score 3.0
This is truly part of the Spring 2026 Update, but Tesla has now given more transparency on how FSD has saved people money on their premiums.
Tesla intertwines FSD with in-house Insurance for attractive incentive
Additionally, Tesla is now automatically awarding a Safety Score of 100 for every mile traveled on Full Self-Driving (Supervised).
Update Tracking
Updates traditionally appear on the App or on the Center Touchscreen in the car. There is nothing better than seeing that Green Arrow at the top of the screen, or opening your app and seeing that there is a Software Update available.
Now, there will be no need to manually check the app and initiate the download. Tesla is enabling a new feature that will automatically download updates for you.
Storage Management
Your USB drive can now be remotely formatted, and old Dashcam clips can be deleted straight from the phone. When you record a lot of things using the Dashcam feature, that storage fills up pretty quickly.
Now, manually deleting the Dashcam videos is easier than ever.
Trailer Light Test
This is perhaps the coolest and most crucial addition to the Tesla App, as those who tow and haul will now be able to trigger a diagnostic light sequence from the app while standing behind your trailer to ensure the brake lights work.
Verifying your trailer lights are connected properly and operating normally and as intended is normally a massive hassle.
Now, a new trigger will be available to initiate a diagnostic light sequence directly from your phone.
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Tesla Robotaxi-only Superchargers are starting to appear
For Tesla, these Robotaxi-only Superchargers represent more than convenient parking spots. They are the first bricks in a vertically integrated autonomy platform—vehicles, energy, and software working in seamless concert.
Tesla is starting to build out Robotaxi-only Superchargers as the company is truly leaning on its Full Self-Driving and autonomy efforts to solve passenger travel.
Last week, the company filed pre-permits in Arizona’s East Valley for two dedicated, non-public charging sites stocked with next-generation V4 Superchargers. The filings mark the first visible evidence of purpose-built infrastructure exclusively for autonomous Tesla vehicles, as they state they are not for public use.
In Chandler, Tesla plans to install 56 V4 stalls on an industrial parcel along South Roosevelt Avenue. Site documents describe a high-capacity setup supported by new SRP transformers, switching cabinets, and upgrades to existing underground lines.
A second site in Mesa, located at 5349 E Main Street in another industrial zone, carries the same private-use designation. Both locations sit well away from public roads and customer traffic, ensuring the chargers serve only Tesla’s internal fleet.
The sites were spotted by Supercharger observer MarcoRP.
On the same day, Tesla also submitted a draft for another proposed location in the city of Mesa, also listed as private use.
This site is located in an industrial area on the east side of the city. pic.twitter.com/jCC1IsKKKw
— MarcoRP (@MarcoRPi1) April 17, 2026
Phoenix’s East Valley offers an ideal launchpad for Robotaxi Supercharging: the location has a clean, grid-like street layout and year-round mild weather that minimizes camera degradation. Additionally, Arizona has welcomed self-driving pilots since Waymo’s early days.
By securing private depots now, Tesla can optimize charging cycles, reduce downtime, and maintain full control over vehicle hygiene and security, critical factors for high-utilization Robotaxi operations.
The type of Supercharger is telling as well, as they are V4, Tesla’s fastest and most efficient buildout.
V4 stalls deliver faster power and support bidirectional charging, features that will let idle Robotaxis feed energy back to the grid during off-peak hours. Because the sites are closed to the public, Tesla avoids congestion, vandalism risks, and the scheduling conflicts that plague shared stations.
The timing is telling. With unsupervised Full Self-Driving hardware already rolling out across the lineup and Cybercab production targets looming, Tesla is shifting from vehicle development to ecosystem readiness.
Charging infrastructure has historically been the gating factor for ride-hailing scale; building it ahead of the vehicles signals confidence that regulatory and technical hurdles are nearing resolution.
Tesla has been spotted testing Cybercab units in Arizona over the past few months, as well.
Interestingly, the permits show V4 Superchargers in the plans, although Cybercab will likely utilize wireless charging:
Tesla Cybercab spotted with interesting charging solution, stimulating discussion
For Tesla, these Robotaxi-only Superchargers represent more than convenient parking spots. They are the first bricks in a vertically integrated autonomy platform—vehicles, energy, and software working in seamless concert.
It appears Tesla is preparing to begin building out Robotaxi-only Superchargers to avoid the congestion and keep its autonomous fleet charged up to get ride-hailers to their destinations.
Elon Musk
ARK’s SpaceX IPO Guide makes a compelling case on why $1.75T may not be the ceiling
ARK Invest breaks down six reasons SpaceX’s $1.75 trillion IPO valuation may be justified.
ARK Invest, which holds SpaceX as its largest Venture Fund position at 17% of net assets, has published a detailed investor guide to why a SpaceX IPO may be grounded in a $1.75 trillion target valuation.
The financial case starts with Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet constellation, which has surpassed 10 million active subscribers globally as of early 2026, with 2026 revenue projected to exceed $20 billion. ARK’s research puts the total satellite connectivity market opportunity at roughly $160 billion annually at scale, and Starlink is adding customers faster than any telecom network in history. That growth alone would justify a substantial valuation.
Additionally, ARK notes that SpaceX has reduced the cost per kilogram to orbit from roughly $15,600 in 2008 to under $1,000 today through reusable Falcon 9 hardware. A fully operational Starship targeting sub-$100 per kilogram would represent a significant cost decline and open markets that do not currently exist. SpaceX executed a staggering 165 missions in 2025 and now accounts for approximately 85% of all global orbital launches. That infrastructure position took decades to build and would be nearly impossible to replicate at comparable cost.
SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise
The February 2026 merger with xAI added a layer to the valuation that straightforward financial models struggle to capture. ARK argues that at sub-$100 launch costs, orbital data centers could deliver compute roughly 25% cheaper than ground-based alternatives, without power grid delays, permitting friction, or land constraints. Musk has stated a goal of deploying 100 gigawatts of AI computing capacity per year from orbit.
The $1.75 trillion figure itself is not a conventional earnings multiple. At roughly 95x trailing revenue, it prices in Starlink’s adoption curve, Starship’s cost trajectory, and the orbital compute thesis together. The public S-1 prospectus, due at least 15 days before the June roadshow, will give investors their first complete look at the financials to test those assumptions. ARK’s position is that the track record earns the benefit of the doubt. Fully reusable rockets were considered unrealistic for years. Starlink was considered financially unviable. Both happened on timelines that surprised skeptics.