Brilliant and exciting.
Using LIDAR to cut the ties to GPS is a super idea. Cost of developing these maps is sunk immediately and never to be seen again if they also describe an engine for generating the maps from the Google resources.
GPS radios are cheap and power efficient but not reliable enough at the street level on inside buildings. Cutting that string is a great idea.
But will dust and urban detrius make LIDAR a problem to maintain; and will the extra sensors and processing power be a problem power drain?