LiDAR supercharges vehicle vision and the transportation transformation
NEW YORK, Jan. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Buckle up because transportation is evolving double quick time. It wasn’t long ago that lane keep assist, approaching object alerts, automatic parallel parking and much more were, at best, concepts in an engineer’s head. Now the next generation of automotive evolution is made possible by the wonders of LiDAR technology. It won’t be long before autonomous driving will be a standard feature on cars. The next generation of automobiles will redefine the driving experience, and investors can participate in the transportation transformation in a variety of ways, including the upcoming public listing of a leading LiDAR company, Cepton Technologies, which aims to go public early this year in a SPAC merger with Growth Capital Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: GCAC) (Profile). Cepton was chosen by General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) as its sole-source provider of lidars for the period 2023–2027, with installation of Cepton-based lidar sensors in as many as nine different models. Cepton is also in various levels of engagement with all top-10 automotive OEMs including Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F). Others in the lidar space, including Luminar Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: LAZR), are trying to keep pace albeit with production wins representing far fewer number of vehicles. Not all EV manufacturers are opting for LiDAR tech; for example, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is a vocal champion for the pure vision-based approach to autonomous driving.