Hesai to quadruple lidar output as it extends lead in laser range finders for EVs, robots

The company plans to boost production to 2 million units this year from about 502,000 units in 2024, founder and CEO David Li Yifan says

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ATX lidar sensors made by Hesai can identify conditions such as rain, fog and exhaust fumes in real time at a pixel level. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:30am, 24 Apr 2025Updated: 10:33am, 24 Apr 2025

Hesai Group, the world’s largest maker of lidar sensors, plans to expand its manufacturing capacity fourfold this year amid surging demand for its products used in driver-assistance systems in cars.

The Shanghai-based company would expand its capacity to manufacture the light detection and ranging sensors – which employ laser beams to measure distances to objects – to 2 million units in 2025, from about 502,000 units last year, according to David Li Yifan, the founder and CEO.

“We can guarantee capacity expansion to 2 million units within a few months,” he said at a media briefing in Shanghai. “Supply chain will not be an issue. For us, it is just a matter of building more facilities.”

The company, whose clients include Li Auto, mainland China’s largest maker of premium electric vehicles (EV), and Geely, owner of Volvo Cars, expected to deliver up to 1.5 million lidar sensors to its clients this year, he added.

Hesai founder and CEO David Li Yifan said the company will start making the AT1440 lidar sensors, designed for level 4 autonomous driving capability, in the second half of 2025. Photo: Handout

Li’s remarks came after Beijing tightened its oversight on driver-assistance systems, or preliminary autonomous driving technology, after a fatal accident involving a Xiaomi EV killed three people last month.

The SU7, with its driver-assistance system in operating mode, crashed into a barrier at a high speed two seconds after the system alerted the driver to take control of the car.