Waymo bought Apple’s self-driving car proving ground for $220M
Waymo bought Apple’s self-driving car proving ground for $220M
Waymo 以 2.2 亿美元收购了苹果的自动驾驶汽车测试场
Waymo has acquired a massive 5,500-acre proving ground in Arizona owned by Route 14 Investment Partners LLC, a Delaware shell company associated with Apple, according to documents filed with Maricopa County. Waymo acquired the property, which is located near other proving grounds in Wittman, Arizona, for $220 million, according to the filing. The sale was recorded June 5. Waymo confirmed the sale to TechCrunch.
根据马里科帕县（Maricopa County）提交的文件显示，Waymo 已收购了位于亚利桑那州的一处占地 5,500 英亩的大型测试场。该场地原由与苹果公司有关联的特拉华州空壳公司 Route 14 Investment Partners LLC 持有。文件显示，Waymo 以 2.2 亿美元的价格收购了该物业，该物业位于亚利桑那州威特曼（Wittman）的其他测试场附近。此次交易于 6 月 5 日记录在案，Waymo 已向 TechCrunch 证实了这笔交易。
The purchase rounds out Waymo’s already robust network of closed test courses. The Alphabet-owned company still uses the Castle Proving Ground in California as well as the Transportation Research Center in Ohio. Both of these are dwarfed by the Arizona location. 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.
此次收购完善了 Waymo 本已强大的封闭式测试场网络。这家隶属于 Alphabet 的公司目前仍在使用加州的 Castle 测试场以及俄亥俄州的交通研究中心。与亚利桑那州的这处场地相比，前两者规模相形见绌。亚利桑那州的场地包括一个 115 英亩的城市道路测试区、一个 35 英亩的车辆动力学测试区、一条 4 英里长的椭圆形赛道，以及一条专为自动驾驶汽车测试而建的高速公路测试道。
A Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch 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. Specifically, the company will support rider-only testing, motion control testing, operational training workflows, and future testing expansion over time.
Waymo 发言人告诉 TechCrunch，该设施将用于在受控环境中模拟驾驶场景，以持续测试并改进其自动驾驶系统的性能。具体而言，该公司将利用该场地支持“无乘客”测试、运动控制测试、运营培训工作流程，并随着时间的推移进行未来的测试扩展。
Apple purchased the property in 2021 for $125 million after renting access to it for years. The facility had previously been used as a test facility for Fiat Chrysler. It features different road surfaces, a high-speed oval, and helped the Detroit automaker test cars and their components in hot weather. Apple used it to put prototype vehicles through their paces as the tech company oscillated through different variations of its car project. That effort — known as Project Titan — was ultimately scuttled in early 2024 after Apple had spent billions of dollars on it. The Phoenix Business Journal was the first to spot the document.
苹果公司在租用该场地多年后，于 2021 年以 1.25 亿美元的价格将其买下。该设施此前曾作为菲亚特克莱斯勒（Fiat Chrysler）的测试基地。它拥有多种路面、一条高速椭圆形赛道，曾帮助这家底特律汽车制造商在炎热天气下测试汽车及其零部件。苹果公司在探索其汽车项目的不同方案时，曾利用该场地对原型车进行严格测试。这项被称为“泰坦计划”（Project Titan）的努力在苹果投入数十亿美元后，最终于 2024 年初被搁置。《凤凰城商业周刊》（Phoenix Business Journal）最先发现了这份文件。
Waymo is in the middle of a dramatic expansion of its fleet, which currently stands at close to 4,000 vehicles. The company recently started offering the first rides in its new van, which is made by Zeekr. Waymo has said it wants to make tens of thousands of robotaxis per year, including the Zeekr van and the Hyundai Ioniq 5. The Zeekr vehicles are sent to Waymo’s Arizona factory, where they are then outfitted with the company’s self-driving system.
Waymo 目前正处于车队规模的剧烈扩张期，现有车辆已接近 4,000 辆。该公司最近开始使用极氪（Zeekr）制造的新款厢式车提供首批乘车服务。Waymo 表示，其目标是每年生产数万辆自动驾驶出租车，包括极氪厢式车和现代 Ioniq 5。极氪车辆会被运往 Waymo 的亚利桑那州工厂，在那里加装该公司的自动驾驶系统。
Waymo has a growing commercial footprint in Phoenix and Maricopa County. The company began testing its autonomous vehicle technology in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler back in 2017. The area would be Waymo’s first market to offer a commercial robotaxi service. Waymo has since expanded to more than 10 U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Austin, and Atlanta.
Waymo 在凤凰城和马里科帕县的商业版图正在不断扩大。该公司早在 2017 年就开始在凤凰城郊区的钱德勒（Chandler）测试其自动驾驶技术。该地区成为了 Waymo 首个提供商业化自动驾驶出租车服务的市场。此后，Waymo 已扩展至包括洛杉矶、旧金山湾区、奥斯汀和亚特兰大在内的 10 多个美国城市。