Google’s Waymo Is Testing Self-Driving Minivans in the Snow

Waymo CEO John Krafcik tweeted Monday morning a picture of the self-driving minivans in the snow in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. Testing took place on public roads around Lake Tahoe, on the California side.

In a tweet posted Monday afternoon, the company said it was collecting snow data to train its self-driving software.

Snow, slush, and freezing rain are challenging for self-driving cars because the wintry weather condition can obscure roads and lane markings as well as muck up sensors used by these vehicles to see the world around it.

In 2012, when the company was still a "project" under Google's moonshot factory X, it conducted a similar tests on public roads in Tahoe with its modified Lexus vehicles, according to the Company.