Waymo prepares its self-driving taxis for their toughest challenge yet

Waymo and its self-driving taxis have conquered the heat of the desert, the chaos of city traffic, and even the occasional sandstorm.

But now, the Alphabet-owned company is gearing up for its ultimate test: winter.

Snow, slush, and freezing rain are about to become Waymo’s next big engineering hurdle.

Because while robotaxis can dodge potholes, handle jaywalkers, and politely yield to cyclists, black ice doesn’t care how smart your sensors are.

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Self-driving cars face many problems in the snow

So far, Waymo has taken the easy route, at least from a weather perspective.

Its autonomous vehicles currently roam the perpetually sunny streets of Los Angeles, Austin, and Phoenix, where frost is not generally going to be a weather hazard.

But to truly compete with human drivers (and rivals like Uber and Lyft), the company needs to prove its EV robotaxis can handle the cold.

After all, most of America (and the rest of the world) doesn’t necessarily spend winter in shorts and flip-flops.

According to Waymo, its vehicles already perform well in challenging conditions like rain, fog, and sandstorms.

However, snow introduces some very human problems for non-human drivers.

Snow-obstructed signs, invisible lane markings, and slippery surfaces are things we humans handle with intuition, but it’s still something AI struggles to master.

To compensate, the next generation of Waymo’s driver system will use heated sensors, wipers, and vehicle-to-vehicle communication to share alerts about icy patches.

The company also said it’s logged ‘tens of thousands of miles in diverse, snowy conditions’ across the northern US.

This teaches its AI systems what winter looks like, feels like, and drives like.

Waymo is planning to expand internationally

Robert Chen, Waymo’s product lead for weather, told The Verge that ‘this winter season is gonna be a really important season for us’.

That might mean the company is preparing for its first snowy city rollout as early as late 2025 or early 2026.

Waymo has already announced plans to launch in Washington, D.C., which gets its fair share of cold, wet commutes.

Internationally, the company has also announced that it will be rolling out its self-driving taxis in London next year.

If it succeeds, its robotaxis could soon be gliding confidently through snowdrifts, which is pretty impressive considering many human drivers struggle with the snow themselves.

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