Michigan Says Get Out Of The California Bubble And Come Here For Real Road Testing Of Self Driving Cars

Michigan and California, vying for control of our driverless future, are each proposing crumbling World War II military sites as ideal locations to test robot cars. Michigan’s secret weapon? Better potholes.

The Great Lakes state plans to make a test track out of a 330-acre industrial ghost town near Ypsilanti, where Rosie the Riveter built B-24 bombers during World War II. Backers contend that tough winters make the Willow Run factory site a better proxy for the imperfect world of driving than California’s decommissioned Navy base in Concord.