Tweet
Volkswagen Beats Mother Nature with New Cold and Climate Research Facility
Research Facility Will Help Slash Spending and Time
Canadian Auto Press
Volkswagen Auto Group has just announced that it has completed building its new Cold and Climate Test Centre next to its main assembly facility in Wolfsburg, Germany. This might not sound like particularly exciting news, but the creation of this scientific test lab is going to change the way that cars are tested and developed. The new 5,400 square meters (58,125 sq-ft) test centre set Volkswagen back about 30 million euros ($38.5 m USD; $43.5 m CAD), but it is money that the brand will quickly save when developing current and future models.
The facility is one of the most advanced of its type, capable of testing for a great number of natural elements. Rather than testing in Northern Canada, Alaska, or Northern Europe, the test vehicle can be put into deep-freeze conditions in a room that is capable of simulating -40C (-40F) temperatures. On the flip side, engineers won’t need to face the scorching heat of Death Valley or Middle Eastern deserts as the test facility can produce heat up to 150C (302F). The ability to test a vehicle in close proximity to home turf will not only save Volkswagen hundreds, if not thousands of hours per year in travel, arrangement and setup, but hundreds of thousands in costs.
But temperature isn’t the only thing that’s being tested at the facility. Other conditions, such as direct solar exposure (UV rays), elevation (up to 3,000 m or 9,850 ft.), and humidity (up to 95 percent) and wind blasts are all on the list, which gives Volkswagen the ability to simulate just about every condition - including ones most humans couldn’t withstand - in the world.
Within the facility, Volkswagen has seven drive-in test chambers with rolling dynamometers and advanced technical analysis equipment, capable of accepting everything from Volkswagen’s smallest subcompact, the Fox, to its largest commercial vehicle. In addition, VW has built a variety of smaller-sized test compartments for individual components. Everything from body panels, to headlamp fixtures to fuel injectors can be tested in chambers varying from 0.5 m3 to 24.0 m3 (5.4 - 258 sq-ft). In total, the facility can carry out up to 50 different tests per day on two shifts, a huge increase in capacity over current techniques.
Another advantage for Volkswagen is that with this facility it can save further time and money during the development of a brand new car. Having the Cold and Climate Test Centre allows changes to be made to a car earlier in its development process. Pre-production cars and prototypes can also be tested earlier in their development, allowing for the production of more reliable and durable vehicles. The test centre also allows for a shroud of secrecy that couldn’t otherwise be had when testing out in the open, which will save Volkswagen cash and make spy shots of future vehicles just that much more difficult to obtain.
Research Facility Will Help Slash Spending and Time
Canadian Auto Press
Volkswagen Auto Group has just announced that it has completed building its new Cold and Climate Test Centre next to its main assembly facility in Wolfsburg, Germany. This might not sound like particularly exciting news, but the creation of this scientific test lab is going to change the way that cars are tested and developed. The new 5,400 square meters (58,125 sq-ft) test centre set Volkswagen back about 30 million euros ($38.5 m USD; $43.5 m CAD), but it is money that the brand will quickly save when developing current and future models.
The facility is one of the most advanced of its type, capable of testing for a great number of natural elements. Rather than testing in Northern Canada, Alaska, or Northern Europe, the test vehicle can be put into deep-freeze conditions in a room that is capable of simulating -40C (-40F) temperatures. On the flip side, engineers won’t need to face the scorching heat of Death Valley or Middle Eastern deserts as the test facility can produce heat up to 150C (302F). The ability to test a vehicle in close proximity to home turf will not only save Volkswagen hundreds, if not thousands of hours per year in travel, arrangement and setup, but hundreds of thousands in costs.
But temperature isn’t the only thing that’s being tested at the facility. Other conditions, such as direct solar exposure (UV rays), elevation (up to 3,000 m or 9,850 ft.), and humidity (up to 95 percent) and wind blasts are all on the list, which gives Volkswagen the ability to simulate just about every condition - including ones most humans couldn’t withstand - in the world.
Within the facility, Volkswagen has seven drive-in test chambers with rolling dynamometers and advanced technical analysis equipment, capable of accepting everything from Volkswagen’s smallest subcompact, the Fox, to its largest commercial vehicle. In addition, VW has built a variety of smaller-sized test compartments for individual components. Everything from body panels, to headlamp fixtures to fuel injectors can be tested in chambers varying from 0.5 m3 to 24.0 m3 (5.4 - 258 sq-ft). In total, the facility can carry out up to 50 different tests per day on two shifts, a huge increase in capacity over current techniques.
Another advantage for Volkswagen is that with this facility it can save further time and money during the development of a brand new car. Having the Cold and Climate Test Centre allows changes to be made to a car earlier in its development process. Pre-production cars and prototypes can also be tested earlier in their development, allowing for the production of more reliable and durable vehicles. The test centre also allows for a shroud of secrecy that couldn’t otherwise be had when testing out in the open, which will save Volkswagen cash and make spy shots of future vehicles just that much more difficult to obtain.
