Self-driving vehicle proving ground tests cars before they hit open road

A Google self-driving car travels eastbound on San Antonio Road in Mountain View, Calif., in an October 2015 file image. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS)

DETROIT: The launch of self-driving vehicle testing at the American Centre for Mobility west of Detroit came with something that frequently confounds human drivers in Michigan – snow. 

But it's an element that actually boosts the value of the site, which was once the home of the famed Willow Run World War II bomber plant. The proving ground north of I-94 in Ypsilanti Township has been under construction for much of the past year and officially opened its first phase, which includes a 2.5-mile highway loop and 700-foot curved tunnel, on schedule in December.