Report: Volvo EX90 Lidar Can Damage Smartphone Cameras

A report has surfaced detailing a little known risk posed by the Volvo EX90's Lidar sensor towards smartphone cameras.

Since its first debut in late 2022, one of the key tech enabling a high-degree semi-autonomous driving capabilities in the Volvo EX90 is its roof-mounted LIDAR (or Lidar) sensor.

Short for “light detection and ranging”, this tech is designed to determine ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. Additionally, Lidar may operate in a fixed direction (e.g., vertical) or it may scan multiple directions, in a special combination of 3-D scanning and laser scanning.

Roof-mounted Lidar-sensor primed in the Volvo EX90, which powers much of the new flagship EV SUV offering ADAS features brimmed on board.

Critically, this kit powers much of the EX90’s advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) features, which are currently rated at Level 2. The presence of Lidar also means the Volvo EX90 is “hardware-ready” to deliver Level 3 assistance soon pending an over-the-air (OTA) software update.

However, a recent report by Car & Driver citing a viral video from a Reddit thread has exposed one of the little know risks with this tech. More specifically, it’s the tech’s invisible threat towards cameras and imaging hardware commonly found in smartphones.

In the video embedded above, we can see how the Lidar sensor’s laser scanners in a Volvo EX90, which just launched locally priced at RM442,888, reportedly damaged the telephoto camera module in an Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max used by a user to film a static EX90 unit.

Though invisible and generally safe to the naked eye, these laser beams shot out by the EX90’s Lidar unit are in fact very harmful to delicate imaging sensors like the CMOS chips primed in most smartphone camera arrays. Additionally, it seems zoom lenses are at higher risks, and here’s the science behind it…

The embedded video shows zoom lens setups in most smartphones are at higher risk of damage from Lidar sensors.

Most modern smartphones utilise multiple camera modules with separate lenses to achieve different focal lengths. When you zoom in to capture an image or record video, smartphones typically switch from the main wide-angle sensor to a telephoto module, and lenses used here features a more focused optical path with smaller apertures – ideal for long-distance capture of subjects.

However, the caveat to said focused path and smaller apertures is the setup’s increased susceptibility to laser damage. We can see how this occurred in the featured video as the pulsing laser damaged individual pixels on the sensor when the camera is zoomed in, but the footage appears unaffected when zoomed out and switched to a wide-angle module.

Besides zoom lens setups, laser beams from Lidar sensors can also damage regular wide-angle camera modules in a smartphone too should they be close enough to each other.

Take note, Lidar systems can still damage wide-angle camera modules too, if both are close enough to each other. So as long and you’re standing at least a few feet away to snap photos or record video, it’s unlikely that these systems will cause any noticeable damage.

Presently, manufacturers of Lidar systems are aware of the system’s potential for damage, and these firms typically design their hardware within Class 1 laser safety limits and tolerances. However, these limits assume human-eye exposure instead of repeated exposure to digital sensors with focusing optics.

Launched locally last month, VCM reassures that Malaysian buyers of the EX90 have little to worry about with the flagship EV SUV's Lidar sensor...

Thankfully, having spoken to an insider at Volvo Car Malaysia (VCM) about this, our source confirmed that Malaysians have little worry with this. That’s because for now, Malaysia-bound EX90 units aren’t fully utilising their Lidar sensors – they’re not operational most of the time.

In other words, consider yourself warned about the potential dangers of Lidar sensors like the ones found in the Volvo EX90 towards your smartphone - the very device you probably depend on daily.

If you happen to see this new flagship EV SUV from the Swedish marque, or any other Lidar-equipped vehicle out on the streets, think twice before you whip out your smartphone to snap images or video of it...