LiDAR (Automotive, Pan-Robotics, etc.) Application Research Report, 2025-2026
LiDAR research: hardware competition shifts to combined sensing capabilities from "point cloud" to "images” and from automotive to robots
The "LiDAR (Automotive, Pan-Robotics, etc.) Application Research Report, 2025-2026" mainly covers the following content: LiDAR overview and development trends, technical structure and components, market data analysis, core component supplier research, domestic and foreign top LiDAR providers, LiDAR parameter summary, LiDAR technology comparison, LiDAR application in different fields (automotive, pan-robotics), etc.
【Abstract】
In 2025, China's passenger cars installed 3.21 million LiDAR sensors, a year-on-year increase of 110.1%.
High-channel digitalization brings an intergenerational breakthrough from "point cloud" to "images"
The competition intensifies and combined sensing solutions gradually become mainstream
The expansion from automotive to pan-robotic applications is accelerating
1. In 2025, China's passenger cars installed 3.21 million LiDAR sensors, a year-on-year increase of 110.1%.
In 2025, leading OEMs represented by BYD, Changan, Li Auto, etc. continued to promote the "technological equality" strategy, resulting in high-level autonomous driving functions no longer being exclusive to top-of-the-channel vehicle models, but becoming common to all vehicle models. In this context, LiDAR, as one of the core sensors for realizing high-levl functions such as urban NOA, has seen its installation rate rise. In order to support urban NOA, many vehicle models have LiDAR as standard, such as the 2026 Lynk & Co 08 EM-P, WEY Gaoshan (Alpine) 7, AITO M6, Dongfeng Yijing, etc.
China will begin to implement the mandatory national standard "Technical Requirements and Test Methods for Light Vehicle AEB Systems" with the standard number GB 39901-2025 from January 1, 2028. By then, all new vehicle models must meet the requirements of the standard, and vehicle models that have already received type approval will have a transition period of 12 to 24 months to complete technical adaptation. The new national standard has stricter requirements for AEB performance, especially under complex scenarios such as at night. To meet the more stringent AEB test standards in the future, LiDAR has become an indispensable sensing hardware, which provides policy expectations for the long-term installation rate of LiDAR.
With the promotion of autonomous driving systems in vehicles, China’s passenger cars had installed over 5 million LiDAR sensors by 2025. In 2025, China's passenger cars installed 3.21 million LiDAR sensors, a year-on-year increase of 110.1%.
As per the monthly data in the past three years, China's passenger car LiDAR installation rate has maintained a steady upward trend. In May 2025, the LiDAR installation rate exceeded 10%, mainly driven by popular vehicle models such as the newly launched Li L6 and the 2025 AITO M9. In November 2025, the LiDAR installation rate hit 16.6%, which was mainly affected by the robust growth of new vehicle models such as Xiaomi YU7 and 2026 AITO M7. In December 2025, LiDAR set a new high, with the installation rate reaching 18.5%, thanks to Fangchengbao Titanium 7, 2026 NIO ES8, etc.
2. High-channel digitalization brings an intergenerational breakthrough from “point cloud” to “images”
In recent years, LiDAR’s “channel count” (vertical resolution) has become a key indicator of its performance. Mainstream products have rapidly moved from 128 channels and 192 channels to higher specifications. For example, LiDAR with ultra-high channel count includes Huawei's 896-channel dual-optical path image-level LiDAR, Hesai ETX (800 channels) and AT1440 LiDAR (1440 channels), and RoboSense EM4 supports customization from 520 channels to 2160 channels. In 2026, 500-channel LiDAR has become the "new threshold" for flagship smart vehicle models, while 192-channel LiDAR will spread to Volkswagen's vehicle models priced below RMB200,000 as standard.
"High-channel digitalization" is driving the industry from "point-cloud-level" perception to "image-level" perception
On March 4, 2026, Huawei Qiankun released the next-generation dual-optical path image-level LiDAR, which pushed the mass production of 896-channel LiDAR, marking the current highest level in the world. It was first seen in the new versions of Maextro S800 and AITO M9, handling long-tail scenarios of autonomous driving (corner cases):
The recognition distance is significantly extended: the recognition distance of 896-channel LiDAR for low-reflectivity objects (such as black tires) is increased from 42 meters to 122 meters, and the recognition distance of special-shaped obstacles (such as cones) is increased by 77%. This provides longer decision-making reaction time for high-speed driving and fundamentally improves active safety capabilities.
The recognition accuracy is higher across generations: the minimum object height that can be stably recognized has been reduced from 30 cm to 14 cm, and small obstacles such as small cartons, gravel, and fallen traffic cones on the pavement, which were easily ignored in the past, can be accurately recognized. In a night scenario, it can even clearly see the details of a puppy wagging its tail 55 meters away, reaching an "image-level" perception level.
High channel count directly brings exponential improvement in angular resolution. The vertical angular resolution of 192-channel radar is usually around 0.2°, while radar with more than 500 channels can compress the angular resolution to 0.05° or even 0.01°, (such as AT1440 with 0.05° x 0.0125°, AT128 with optimal 0.1° x 0.2°, ATL with 0.08° x 0.1°, EMX with 0.08° x 0.10° global resolution, EM4 with 0.050°×0.025°, Falcon K3 with up to 0.07°×0.03°).
Hesai Technology's AT1440 is an automotive-grade ultra-high-definition LiDAR for high-level autonomous driving. It features 1440 channels and image-level point cloud output, with a single echo point frequency of up to 34 million points/second. It is equipped with Hesai’s fourth-generation self-developed chip, with cutting-edge efficient photosensitivity and ultra-high parallel processing technology. The detection range is up to 300 meters @10%, mainly for L4 and above autonomous driving systems. It is the core sensor of the "Qianliyan A" sensing solution. This solution usually uses four AT1440 sensors to work together to achieve 360° full coverage and zero blind zone sensing. Applications include robotaxis, robotrucks, etc.
Seyond's Falcon K3 long-range LiDAR has an equivalent of 600 channels, an angular resolution of up to 0.07° × 0.03°, and a detection range of 350 meters. It is mainly mounted on NIO's high-end vehicle models and provides key sensing support for L3 and higher-level autonomous driving. 600,000 units had been delivered as of early January 2026 cumulatively.
Behind the resolution jump is the paradigm shift from analog architectures to digital chips, and the evolution from analog signal (APD) architectures to digital signal (SPAD-SoC) architectures. The SPAD (Single-Photon Avalanche Diode) chip is homologous and isomorphic to the camera CMOS, and uses a pixel array, so that increasing the number of channels is like increasing the number of pixels in a camera, and is no longer subject to the physical limitations of the number of analog channels and complex circuits.
For example, RoboSense's EM4 uses VCSEL + SPAD-SoC and integrates many advanced technologies such as digital architecture, crosstalk elimination, full-condition photoelectric signal processing, and lossless data compression. Based on the platform design, EM4 supports customized technical solutions such as 520 channels, 720 channels, 1080 channels, and 2160 channels. At present, the custom-developed 520-channel version, relying on its mature and mass-produced advantages, has been mass-produced for many vehicle models such as IMLS9, IMLS6, and ZEEKR 9X.
EM4 can provide 1080P high-definition three-dimensional perception for vehicles, with the imaging of 25.92 million points/second. It can not only measure distances up to 600 meters, but also accurately recognize distant small objects such as tires, cones, and cartons. Compared with current mainstream LiDAR sensors, EM4 can increase the response time of the autonomous driving system by up to 70%, making the system decision-making and response calmer, and making the autonomous driving experience safer and more comfortable.
The high channel count of automotive LiDAR expands the safety boundary of autonomous driving from "high-probability visible" to "very small probability visible details", providing better "safety redundancy." This transition is the key cornerstone for high-level autonomous driving at L3 and above to move from "available" to "reliable".
3. The competition intensifies and combined sensing solutions gradually become mainstream
Currently, global autonomous driving is in a critical transition from L2+ to L3. At the same time, the overall sales volume of Chinese automobiles is under pressure in 2026. LiDAR, as one of the core components of autonomous driving perception, has upgraded its industry competition from competing on radar performance to providing an overall solution capability of "hardware combination + algorithm collaboration + scenario adaptation".
Regarding the safety standards of different autonomous driving levels, Hesai is an example. In the L2 market, it mainly uses ATX (costing about US$200) to promote the transformation of LiDAR from "high-end configuration" to "safety standard configuration"; in the L3/L4 market, a higher safety limit is defined through high-performance combinations, such as the L3 LiDAR combination (ETX*1 + FTX*2), and the L4 LiDAR combination (AT1440*4 + FTX*4).
Other combined sensing solutions include:
Seyond's "1+2 LiDAR combination" solution: 1*Falcon ultra-long-range main-view LiDAR + 2*Robin W wide-angle LiDAR. These three LiDAR sensors are integrated into NIO's new ES8, building an all-scenario perception matrix from long range to near field, from main view to blind filling.
VanJee Technology’s WLR-760 + WLR-750 autonomous driving perception system: Currently available on ZELOSZ5, its perception system consists of two WLR-760s forward LiDAR sensors and two WLR-750 side and rear LiDAR sensors, achieving all-round, high-precision environmental perception. Z5 is geared towards urban logistics and distribution, with flexible container configuration and multi-mode distribution.
MicroVison's Tri-LiDAR architecture (1*MAVIN + 2*MOVIA S): With the Tri-Lidar architecture, MicroVision provides multiple LiDAR sensors (such as two short-range (MOVIA S) LiDAR sensors and one long-range (MAVIN) LiDAR sensor) integrated into a unified open platform design. This design allows long-range radar (such as the simplified Mavin) to focus on farther detection, while corner LiDAR covers the edge of the field of view, so that they work together to achieve comprehensive environmental perception.
RoboSense's EM4+E1 combination has become one of the preferred sensing solutions for the next-generation robotaxi, and has completed production verification with 8 leading customers around the world. In other fields, for example, on September 15, 2025, RoboSense and MINIEYE reached strategic cooperation. MINIEYE's next-generation iRobo autonomous vehicles - T5 and T8 will be equipped with 3 digital LiDAR sensors from RoboSense, including an automotive-grade 192-channel EMX LiDAR sensor and 2 E1R all-solid-state blind-filling LiDAR sensors, which can greatly improve the perception accuracy and safety redundancy under complex traffic scenarios.
4. The expansion from automotive to pan-robotic applications is accelerating
In addition to automotive applications, LiDAR is being implemented on a large scale in various robot scenarios, providing precise sensing capabilities for AGVs, AMRs, and quadruped and humanoid robots. Among them, lawn mowing robots and autunomous delivery robots have become the main application scenarios. Currently, representative products include Livox's MID-360, Lanhai Photoelectricity’s LDS-M300, RoboSense's Airy/E1R, Hesai’s JT series, etc.
For example, RoboSense sold 303,000 LiDAR sensors in the robotics field in 2025, which are widely used in scenarios such as intelligent lawn mowing robots, autunomous delivery, and humanoid robots. Compared with 2024, RoboSense's sales volume in the robotics field grew strongly by 1141.8% year-on-year.
Since its release in January 2025, Hesai's JT 3D LiDAR has experienced explosive growth in the robotics market thanks to its outstanding performance. From its release to May 2025, Hesai quickly achieved the milestone of delivering 100,000 units; by the end of 2025, it had cumulatively delivered more than 200,000 units. The robot application scenarios include agriculture (Agtonomy), cleaning (Gausium), lawn mowing (Dreame), airports (Boenic), smart measurement (Realsee), game modeling (Black Myth: Wukong), and factory automatic scheduling (BMW’s factory in Germany). In the field of logistics robots, Hesai is also assisting Meituan UAVs, ZELOS autonomous vehicle, Neolix, etc. to bring innovative solutions to urban distribution & logistics.
By expanding into "pan-robotics", leading LiDAR companies can not only multiplex their platform technologies to the robotics arena to support the dual growth of "ADAS + robots", but also diversify business risks and find new growth engines.
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