WardsAuto.Com reports that GM is ramping up testing of batteries for use in its electric vehicles (EVs). The report notes:
The lab includes about 170 test chambers cycling battery charges up and down 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. During the cycling, engineers introduce severe temperature and humidity levels, while an automotive OEM-exclusive “shaker […]

Autoliv Opens New Unique Test Facility
STOCKHOLM –(Business Wire)– Oct 26, 2009 Regulatory News:
Autoliv Inc. has opened a new unique test facility for pre-crash and active safety systems in Vargarda, Sweden.
Thanks to passive safety systems such as seatbelt pretensioners and airbags, vehicle safety has substantially improved over recent decades. The next step to further reduce road […]

Shanghai Dailly reports on China’s first wind-tunnel test facility that opened yesterday near Shanghai. According to the report,
[China’s] first automobile wind tunnel was launched in Shanghai yesterday in a bid to support the Chinese automotive industry in its transition from “made in China” to “designed in China.”
…
With the technology localized, businesses will be able to […]

Crain’s Detroit Business is reporting that the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center in Warren will add a test facility. A ceremonial groundbreaking is scheduled in two weeks and formal construction could begin by month’s end on the new $40.3 million Ground Systems Power and Energy Laboratory.

FEV, Inc.has announced that it will open a new FEV technical center - FEV’s fifth in the world - in Pune, India. The announcement was made by Prof. Stefan Pischinger, Chairman and CEO of FEV Group, who said the technical center will be used for powertrain and vehicle development. FEV India Pvt. Ltd. is the […]

Electrolube has boosted the technical capabilities of their laboratory. The new equipment includes a bespoke design thermal cycling chamber which utilises a CFC and HCFC free mechanical cooling system for rapid thermal changes over a very wide temperature range. The thermal cycling chamber has been designed to meet the toughest thermal cycling requirements including those […]

Bosch has invested approximately $8 million to renovate its vehicle test track in Flat Rock, Mich., to provide a state-of-the-art facility that will be used to test a variety of innovative automotive technologies.
The renovation included repaving and expanding the surface size of the site’s Vehicle Dynamics Area, and reconfiguring the test facility to accommodate Bosch’s […]

From BaltimoreSun.Com:
As it rumbled down a steep hill at the Aberdeen Test Center, the huge armored troop carrier hit a bump and briefly caught air. Thanks to a modified suspension, the 22-ton truck did not land with a bone-jarring clatter. Instead, its knobby front tires seemed to glide back to the dirt road.
“That speed would […]

AutoCar.Co.UK reports that BMW has opened a new aerodynamic test facility. According to the report,
The new Munich-based Aerodynamic Test Centre is spread over five floors and 25,000sq meters, took three years to construct and cost 170m Euros (£144m). Until now BMW had been using wind tunnels in five different locations around the world.
The facility […]

The Delphi Customer Technology Centre Luxembourg (CTCL), specialises in noise and vibration, exhaust emissions, engine durability, electromagnetic compatibility, and electronic systems test and development. With more than 500 engineers and technicians in Luxembourg, Delphi employs state of the art systems to support a wide range of testing and development programs for automotive and non-automotive companies.
The […]