The Apple Car, a.k.a. Project Titan, has been dead and buried for over two years now, but the tech giant’s former Arizona proving ground where the self-driving car was tested in the utmost secrecy has now been reportedly sold to Alphabet’s Waymo.
Documents filed with Maricopa County spotted by the Phoenix Business Journal show that the robotaxi company paid $220 million to acquire the massive 5,500-acre site. The seller is Route 14 Investment Partners LLC, a Delaware shell company associated with Apple. The sale was recorded on June 5 and was confirmed by Waymo to TechCrunch.
A 4-Mile Oval Track, A 115-Acre City Course And A Freeway Course For AV Testing
The robotaxi company already owns several closed test courses, including the Castle Proving Ground in California and the Transportation Research Center in Ohio, but those are dwarfed by the Arizona location.
Located near other proving grounds in Wittman, Arizona, the former Apple site includes a 115-acre city course, a 35-acre vehicle dynamics area, a 4-mile oval track, and a freeway course built specifically for autonomous vehicle testing.
Apple bought the property in 2021 for $125 million from Fiat Chrysler, which previously used it as a test facility. Due to its different road surfaces and a high-speed oval, the site enabled the Detroit automaker to perform hot weather testing of its vehicles.
Apple used the Arizona proving ground to test various prototypes of its self-driving car project before pulling the plug on the program in early 2024 despite spending 10 years of R&D work worth billions of dollars on it.
What’s Next?
Waymo
Waymo plans to use the new facility to simulate driving scenarios in a controlled environment to continuously test and improve the performance of its self-driving system called Waymo Driver, a company spokesperson told TechCrunch.
More specifically, it will allow Waymo to perform rider-only testing, motion control testing, and operational training workflows; the company also plans future testing expansion over time.
The deal comes as Waymo expands its footprint in the Phoenix metropolitan area, including a new Tempe office and plans to deploy next-generation robotaxis in the city, which was Waymo’s first market to offer a commercial robotaxi service in 2017.
Waymo also operates a factory in Mesa, Arizona where it outfits China-made Zeekr minivans with its self-driving system, rebranding them as Waymo Ojai in the process. Waymo recently started offering the first rides in the Ojai robotaxi.
The company is in the middle of a dramatic expansion of its fleet, which currently numbers almost 4,000 vehicles. Waymo said it plans to make tens of thousands of robotaxis per year, including the Zeekr van and the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
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Dan Mihalascu
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