Waymo buys Apple’s self-driving car test site for $220M
▼ Summary
– Waymo purchased a 5,500-acre proving ground in Wittman, Arizona, for $220 million, confirmed via a recorded sale on June 5.
– The Arizona facility includes a city course, vehicle dynamics area, oval track, and freeway course for autonomous vehicle testing and improvement.
– Apple previously owned the property, buying it in 2021 for $125 million for its scuttled Project Titan car effort.
– The new site is much larger than Waymo’s existing test courses in California and Ohio, expanding its closed-course testing network.
– Waymo is expanding its fleet to nearly 4,000 vehicles, with plans for tens of thousands of robotaxis annually using Zeekr and Hyundai models.
Waymo has finalized a $220 million purchase of a sprawling 5,500-acre autonomous vehicle testing facility in Wittman, Arizona, a site previously tied to Apple’s now-defunct car project. The transaction, recorded on June 5 with Maricopa County, involved Route 14 Investment Partners LLC, a Delaware shell company associated with Apple, according to official filings. TechCrunch confirmed the sale with Waymo.
The acquisition significantly enhances Waymo’s existing network of closed-course test tracks. While the Alphabet-owned company already operates the Castle Proving Ground in California and the Transportation Research Center in Ohio, the new Arizona property dwarfs both in scale. The site features a 115-acre city course, a 35-acre vehicle dynamics area, a 4-mile oval track, and a dedicated freeway course designed specifically for autonomous vehicle testing.
A Waymo spokesperson explained that the facility will serve as a controlled environment for simulating driving scenarios, allowing the company to continuously test and refine its self-driving system. Planned activities include rider-only testing, motion control testing, operational training workflows, and future testing expansion as the company scales.
Apple originally purchased the property in 2021 for $125 million, after renting access for years. Prior to that, Fiat Chrysler used the facility to test vehicles and components in hot weather, taking advantage of its varied road surfaces and high-speed oval track. Apple deployed prototype vehicles there as part of its Project Titan initiative, a costly effort that ultimately ended in early 2024 after billions of dollars in investment.
The Phoenix Business Journal first spotted the relevant documents.
This purchase comes amid a period of aggressive growth for Waymo. The company’s fleet now numbers close to 4,000 vehicles, and it recently began offering the first rides in its new Zeekr van. Waymo has stated its ambition to produce tens of thousands of robotaxis annually, including both the Zeekr van and the Hyundai Ioniq 5. The Zeekr vehicles are shipped to Waymo’s Arizona factory, where they are fitted with the company’s self-driving technology.
Waymo’s commercial presence in Phoenix and Maricopa County has expanded steadily since it first began testing autonomous technology in the suburb of Chandler in 2017. That area became Waymo’s first market for a commercial robotaxi service. Today, the company operates in more than 10 U. S. cities, including Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Austin, and Atlanta.
(Source: TechCrunch)
