Waymo Acquires Former Apple Autonomous Vehicle Testing Facility in $220 Million Deal

Waymo has acquired a sprawling 5,500-acre testing facility in Arizona previously owned by Route 14 Investment Partners LLC, a Delaware-based entity linked to Apple, according to records filed with Maricopa County.

The Alphabet-owned autonomous driving company purchased the property for $220 million. The site, located near other automotive proving grounds in Wittmann, Arizona, was officially transferred in a sale recorded on June 5. Waymo has confirmed the acquisition.

The purchase further strengthens Waymo’s extensive network of private testing facilities. The company already operates at the Castle Proving Ground in California and the Transportation Research Centre in Ohio, but the Arizona site is significantly larger than either location.

The facility features a 115-acre simulated city environment, a 35-acre vehicle dynamics area, a four-mile oval testing track, and a dedicated freeway course specifically designed for autonomous vehicle development. According to a Waymo spokesperson, the company plans to use the site to recreate driving scenarios in a controlled setting to evaluate and improve its self-driving technology continuously. The facility will support rider-only testing, motion-control evaluations, operational training programs, and future expansion of testing.

Apple acquired the property in 2021 for approximately $125 million after leasing access to the site for several years. Before Apple’s ownership, the proving ground served as a testing facility for Fiat Chrysler. The location includes multiple road surfaces and a high-speed oval track and was historically used to test vehicle performance and components under extreme heat conditions.

Apple later used the site as part of its long-running autonomous vehicle initiative, known internally as Project Titan. The facility helped the company test vehicle prototypes as it explored different approaches to developing a car. However, Apple ultimately ended the project in early 2024 after investing billions of dollars in the effort.

The Phoenix Business Journal was first to report the property transfer documents.

The acquisition comes as Waymo continues to rapidly expand its autonomous vehicle fleet, which now numbers close to 4,000 vehicles. The company recently launched its first rides using its new vehicle platform developed with the Chinese automaker Zeekr. Waymo has previously stated that it intends to produce tens of thousands of robotaxis annually, including both the Zeekr van and the Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Vehicles produced by Zeekr are shipped to Waymo’s Arizona manufacturing facility, where they are equipped with the company’s autonomous driving technology before entering service.

Waymo also maintains a growing commercial presence throughout Phoenix and the wider Maricopa County region. The company began testing its self-driving technology in Chandler, Arizona, in 2017. The Phoenix metropolitan area later became the first market where Waymo launched a commercial robotaxi service.

Since then, Waymo has expanded operations to more than 10 cities across the United States, including Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Austin, and Atlanta, as it continues to broaden the reach of its autonomous ride-hailing platform.