Snow, ice and no driver? Waymo's robotaxis face the ultimate winter test

THE TAKEAWAY

• Waymo is expanding efforts to hole its autonomous vehicles for terrible wintertime weather.
• The company’s exertion uses aggregate sensors and real-time information to navigate changing roadworthy conditions.
• Alaska’s snow, crystal and extended acheronian volition supply a rigorous trial of Waymo’s acold upwind capabilities.

FAIRBANK, Alaska - When winter weather makes travel treacherous, snow and crystal tin marque the roads challenging for immoderate driver, but what happens erstwhile there’s nary 1 down the wheel?

Waymo, 1 of the world’s starring autonomous vehicle companies, is bringing its self-driving vehicles to Alaska to trial the company’s technology successful dense snowfall and terrible winter conditions.

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As a processing Super El Niño threatens to substance upwind extremes astir the globe, Waymo is expanding its wintertime investigating to hole its autonomous "Drivers" for challenging conditions successful each 4 seasons.

The Ojai and sixth-gen Waymo Driver performing closed people wintertime testing.

(Waymo)

With wintertime connected the horizon, Waymo volition behaviour closed-course evaluations successful Alaska portion collecting dense snowfall information to further refine its cold-weather capabilities.

Waymo presently operates its autonomous ride-hailing work crossed U.S. cities ranging from the godforsaken Southwest to humid Florida and snowy streets successful Denver, wherever vehicles indispensable contend with extreme heat, dense rain, flooding, snowfall and ice.

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The California-based institution has spent years investigating its autonomous robotaxi vehicles successful immoderate of North America’s snowiest regions, including Upstate New York, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the Sierra Nevada.

An automobile operating nether Alphabet's Waymo autonomous driving exertion navigates a metropolis thoroughfare connected October 08, 2026 successful San Francisco, California.

(Heather Diehl/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Alaska presents 1 of Waymo’s astir demanding wintertime investigating environments yet, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy welcomed the company’s arrival.

"Alaska has ever been a spot wherever innovators travel to trial their limits, and determination is nary amended proving crushed for wintertime driving than Fairbanks," Dunleavy wrote connected societal media.

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Dunleavy said Waymo volition trial its Ojai and Hyundai IONIQ vehicles successful Fairbanks, exposing the autonomous exertion to immoderate of the state’s astir challenging wintertime conditions, including dense snow, crystal and extended periods of darkness.

The acold successful Fairbanks successful Alaska, United States. 

(Jean-Erick PASQUIER/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Battling the elements is thing caller for Waymo’s fleet of self-driving vehicles.

Each Waymo conveyance acts arsenic a mobile upwind station, utilizing cameras, radar and lidar to analyse conditions successful existent clip — including rain, fog, snow, visibility and roadworthy friction — portion sharing that information crossed the fleet.

Winter simulation. Waymo volition trial its autonomous vehicles successful Fairbanks, Alaska, during the winter.

(Waymo / FOX Weather)

"Driving safely successful the wintertime requires an all-weather operator and paying attraction to the skies and the streets. The 6th-generation Waymo Driver uses cameras, radar and lidar to navigate the satellite astir it, portion built-in heaters and micro-wipers support sensors wide successful icy conditions," Waymo said.

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Together, these systems are designed to assistance the Waymo Driver spot done wintertime weather, recognize changing roadworthy conditions and set its driving successful existent clip portion keeping captious sensors clear.

While the institution has encountered setbacks — including a 2026 callback aft flooding occurred successful Texas — Waymo said it remains committed to continued investigating and improving the technology.

A Waymo conveyance turning onto Montgomery Street during a interruption betwixt rainfall storms successful Downtown San Francisco connected Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025.

(Dan Hernandez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Before deploying immoderate capableness to the public, Waymo evaluates it done a rigorous, peer-reviewed "Safety Framework" that includes real-world testing, closed-course evaluations and simulations of utmost conditions, specified arsenic achromatic crystal and whiteouts.

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With wintertime approaching, Alaska's notoriously dense snow, crystal and extended acheronian that Gov. Dunleavy described arsenic among the "most challenging wintertime conditions successful the country" volition supply a demanding trial of Waymo’s autonomous technology.