Part 4/11:
Traditional automakers face significant hurdles in developing their own autonomous systems. Currently, they lack the Silicon Valley-scale expertise and infrastructure that Tesla has cultivated over 15 years. As Jim Farley, Ford's CEO, admitted, Ford employs over 100 software contractors to develop their autonomous features, yet their software’s performance remains subpar.
Moreover, these companies are unprofitable in EV manufacturing, selling far fewer vehicles than their production costs. For example, many legacy automakers sell around 60,000–70,000 EVs annually, while their costs hover around $150,000 per vehicle. To meet profit margins, they resort to costly technologies like LiDAR, which further inflates vehicle costs and erodes profitability.