Waymo has acquired a 5,500-acre autonomous vehicle proving ground in Wittmann, Arizona, for $220 million. Apple, the previous owner, paid $125 million for it in 2021. The facility was the centerpiece of Apple’s self-driving car program, which has since been discontinued. The facility had also been used as a test facility for Fiat Chrysler. It features different road surfaces and a high-speed oval, helping the Detroit automaker test cars and components in hot weather. Wittman is NW of Phoenix.
The Arizona location includes a 115-acre city course, a 35-acre vehicle dynamics area, a four-mile oval track, and a freeway course purpose-built for autonomous vehicle testing. The facility will be used to simulate driving scenarios in a controlled environment to continuously test and improve the performance of its self-driving system.
Waymo has since expanded to more than 10 U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Austin, and Atlanta.
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