Yes, some of that is PR and yet to be proven. But an appropriate sensor suite for the task of autonomous driving is not really a question. There's a right way to do it, and a wrong way to do it. For robotics researchers, there's really two ways of looking at things. Some say "look, we as humans are proof that the only sensors you need to do autonomous driving are two cameras (out eyes). So the real research question is, how do we make a system that works with just these sensors?" The other camp says "In order to get away with just two sensors, you need human-level AI. We are not there and we're not going to be for a long time, so let's work within our current capabilities and engineer a proper system."

As a community, robotics researchers now know what kind of engineered system works. In the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, EVERY car that finished the race had a 360 degree velodyne laser. It was very much a game-changing sensor for autonomous cars.

For Tesla to now say "Oh, we'll do the same thing but without all the fancy sensors" is just incredible. Speaking in terms of the information that the cars acquire, Tesla is driving blind compared to its rivals.