Mercedes-Benz Partners with Hesai Lidar
Hesai Technology, a Shanghai-based leader in lidar manufacturing is making headlines as a recent report from Reuters details a new relationship with Mercedes-Benz. According to a person with direct knowledge, Mercedes-Benz has partnered with Hesai lidar to equip its global lineup of smart-driving vehicles with advanced lidar sensors. This marks the first instance of a foreign automaker integrating Chinese-made lidar technology into models intended for international markets. Mercedes-Benz chose to work with Hesai for its cost-effective solutions and scalable production capabilities, despite potential legal and geopolitical considerations.
Hesai has had a checkered past with U.S. regulators and security agencies. Hesai has been listed on the NASDAQ since 2023. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) listed Hesai as a “Chinese Military Company.” The DoD briefly removed Hesai from this list in response to a lawsuit from Hesai only to reinstate this designation months later. Hesai’s stock jumped 30% on the Mercedes-Benz news.
Hesai Experiencing Rapid Growth
CEO and co-founder Yifan “David” Li announced that Hesai reached a monthly production rate of 100,000 units in December 2024. The company plans to launch new production lines in the first quarter of 2025, with production commencing in the third quarter, aiming to achieve an annual capacity of two million units by year-end. This is considerable increase from their 2023 and 2024 production of 220,000 and 500,000 units, respectively.
Hesai AT512 https://www.hesaitech.com/product/at512/
For the Lidar-heads
Let’s talk lidar. Hesai has more than 10 scanners for sale covering different uses cases and technical specs such as resolution, range, and FOV. Two standout products are discussed below:
AT512: This is Hesai’s top of the line long-range lidar. It’s ranging capability is 300 meters @ 10% reflectivity, meaning it can detect an object with only 10% reflectivity (i.e., a dark object like asphalt) at 300 meters. The maximum range is 400 meters, for high reflectivity objects. The point rate is 12.3 million points per second, resulting in an exceptionally high-resolution point cloud with an angular resolution of 0.05° (H) x 0.05° (V). This means the angular distance between points in a single return is 0.05° in both the horizontal and vertical axes. Combining the angular resolution and the FOV – 120° x 25.6° – leaves you with the pixel resolution of 2400 x 512.
OT128: This is another scanner worthy of discussion. OT128 is Hesai’s flagship 360° auto-grade scanner. Some facts – 200 meters @ 10% reflectivity, 230 meters max; 360° x 40° FOV, 3.46M pts/s single return point rate; and 0.1° (H) x 0.125° (V).
The Hesai FT120 is also worth checking out. It is a compact, short-range, solid-state scanner intended for blind spot detection.
AT128 on the left. AT128 and FT120 on the right. https://www.hesaitech.com/product/ft120/
Competition in Automotive Lidar
Hesai’s position in the automotive lidar market is set against a shifting regulatory and geopolitical backdrop. The newly elected Trump administration has indicated plans for tariffs on China and a stronger push for U.S.-based manufacturing, policies that could reshape the competitive landscape. Amid these uncertainties, Mercedes’ decision to partner with Hesai lidar reinforces the company’s credibility. As the industry navigates these evolving conditions, other automotive lidar manufacturers are undoubtedly watching this development closely.
For more discussion of the technologies shaping autonomous vehicle lidar, I recommend FMCW vs. ToF Lidar Battle Ramping Up, which discusses the trade-off between frequency-modulated continuous wave lidar and time-of-flight. This topic will be very pertinent to the future of automotive lidar.
