Delphi Buys Stake in Israeli Lidar Company

Delphi Automotive plc has made an unspecified minority investment in Innoviz Technologies Inc., a two-year-old maker of solid-state lidar sensors for self-driving vehicles, as the lead investor in the Israel-based company’s second round of funding.

Delphi says the relationship will help it develop long-range sensors required for highly autonomous level 4 and 5 driving systems. The company will continue its two-year-old equity partnership with Silicon Valley-based Quanergy Systems Inc., which also is developing solid-state lidar devices.

Glen De Vos, Delphi’s chief technology officer, says his company aims to begin marketing a suite of solid-state sensors for autonomous vehicles by 2020. He says the company is convinced that high-level self-driving systems will require a combination of lidar, radar and cameras to ensure accurate perception of their environments.

Innoviz specializes in MEMS-based (micro-electro-mechanical system) solid-state lidar, which De Vos says is geared toward highway applications. Quanergy’s lidar uses a photo-optical solid-state technology that is better suited for city driving.

De Vos expects level 3 autonomous vehicles to initially use both of the solid-state systems. But he says costs must be reduced from several thousand dollars per sensor today to $250 or less. De Vos says Delphi chose to invest in Innoviz over other companies developing MEMS lidar because of the company’s systems capabilities and focus on automotive applications.