Sensor Technology How Microvision Aims to Overcome the Lidar Crisis

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The lidar industry has experienced hype and crashes. Microvision boss Glen de Vos opts for the classic approach: standardized architecture and simplified specifications instead of all-in-one sensors.

Less than ten years ago, the lidar industry was really heating up. At the time, management consultancy Yole Développement estimated that private investment in lidar companies would increase from eight million US dollars in 2015 to 400 million US dollars in both 2016 and 2017.

There was a lot of media attention because several things came together. A new technology was about to go into series production and many investors did not want to miss the opportunity of a newly emerging market. Added to this was the euphoria surrounding self-driving cars. The biggest problem at the time was the unit cost of the lidar sensors.

Suppliers Withdrew

The major German suppliers were also investing in start-ups at the time. ZF acquired a stake in Ibeo in 2016 and intensified the business relationship three years later. Rumor has it that ZF owned up to 40 percent of the shares in the Hamburg-based company. Together, they had achieved remarkable things: Ibeo developed the laser technology for the lidar sensor, which Valeo first brought into series production for the Audi A8 in 2017.

However, this was clearly not a commercial success, at least for Ibeo. ZF scaled back its involvement and the start-up filed for insolvency in self-administration in the fall of 2022. Less than two months later, a buyer was found in Microvision.

"Lidar start-ups had the wrong approach"

"The lidar industry relied too heavily on economies of scale to reduce costs," Glen de Vos recalls in an interview at the IAA Mobility. The industry veteran with over 30 years of automotive experience - mainly at Delphi/Aptiv - has been working for Microvision since April 2025, first as CTO and now as CEO. The car industry doesn't work like this, he continues his point. "The focus has to be on costs right from the start, otherwise the numbers won't increase." It used to be the same with radar and cameras.

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In his opinion, another reason why lidar sensors are still expensive is the wrong response from sensor manufacturers to the lack of unit sales: "More content was packed into the lidar sensor and the suppliers welcomed this."

Today, lidar is "a premium option for a premium vehicle from a premium OEM". This makes it a niche technology with very low unit numbers.

Implementation Similar to That of Cameras and Radar

De Vos is certain that the path to success for lidar sensors is similar to that of radar and camera devices. He believes it is wrong to equip one sensor for all tasks. This would make the devices large, energy-hungry and expensive. "With radar, you now have three to five sensors in every car. Lidar has to go the same way."

Microvision has therefore split its product line for the automotive sector. For the close range (product name "Movia S"), the focus is on a range of 30 to 50 meters (~98 to 164 Feet) and a field of view of 90° x 67°. Flash technology from Ibeo is used here. De Vos calls it "pure solid state": no moving parts, no mirrors, no rotating elements.

No Market for All-Round Lidar Sensors

The lidar sensor for the long range is called "Mavin". De Vos speaks of a range of over 220 meters (~722 Feet) and a narrower field of vision compared to the all-in-one approach. This makes the device smaller and more efficient. The MEMS technology developed by Microvision is used here.

The Microvision lidars are therefore a good 130 cubic centimetres (~8 Cubic Inches) in size, which is roughly equivalent to a cube with an edge length of 5.1 cm (~2 inches). De Vos puts the energy consumption at ten watts. The costs are 40 to 50 percent lower with the same performance.

De Vos quotes around 200 US dollars per unit for Movia. The product should be ready for series production in 2028. Unit prices of around 100 dollars are the target for the next generation. In terms of orders, the company is currently in a critical window: a number of series orders for cars will be placed in the coming months.

Lidar: It's Still About Costs

Mavin currently costs around 300 US dollars. The long-range lidar is designed in such a way that it is also suitable for use in heavy trucks. However, de Vos sees too much competition here at the moment. Microvision wants to serve the truck sector downstream of the passenger car projects, before improving the costs and performance of the sensor.

In general, the supplier is focusing on a standardized architecture for all applications in the mobility and manufacturing industries. The third market is the defense sector. This approach is intended to exploit the necessary economies of scale. According to de Vos, while vehicle manufacturers expect a point cloud from the sensors and carry out data processing in domain computers, a complete software stack is offered for the other markets.

At the IAA in Munich, de Vos had sensors with him that corresponded to the A sample status. He announced B samples for validation at the end of 2025.