MAHLE Powertrain has broken ground on development of the new test chamber located at its Real Driving Emissions (RDE) Centre in Northampton. The chamber will be optimised to develop and validate electric vehicle powertrain. The 5.1 million Euros investment complements the existing capability of the RDE Centre, which opened in 2018, and will also provide the automotive industry with additional specific hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle testing capacity. The opening is slated for 2022.
The 5.1 million Euros investment is being part-funded by a 1.5 million Euros grant from the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP), a public-private sector-led organisation tasked with promoting economic growth in the region. David Pates, MAHLE Powertrain head of engineering, said, "Vehicle manufacturer and tier 1 customers realised the time and cost benefits of utilising our first test chamber during lockdown, and this investment will further broaden our capabilities as the industry emerges from the pandemic having adopted new, more flexible ways of working."
MAHLE Powertrain's second test chamber will have a curved ceiling and extraction chimney for stray gas collection and disposal
Demand for MAHLE Powertrain's first hypobaric and climatic test chamber pushed capacity in the last 12 months, during when the company signed off whole vehicle test programmes to overcome travel restrictions. The second chamber, with an operational temperature range of -20oC to 40oC, will be equipped with a battery emulator for EV testing and will also be capable of simulating solar loading. It has been designed with blast walls and a domed chamber roof as in-built safety measures for the handling of hydrogen.
The RDE Centre's new test cell will be run from the existing control room
Breaking ground on its new development is MAHLE Powertrain's latest financial commitment, following the opening of a new e-axle test facility in Fellbach, Germany. The company will also open a new battery pack build and test facility in Northampton later in 2021.
