General Motors, SAIC, Shanghai GM and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) have opened China’s largest proving ground, capable of conducting 67 driving conditions over 60km (37 miles) of test roads.
The 5.67sq km (2.18sq miles) Guangde Proving Ground in Guangde County, Anhui, represents an investment of RMB1.6bnn (US$253m). Shanghai GM and PATAC are overseeing the proving ground’s operation, which includes comprehensive support facilities.
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“GM has brought some of our industry’s most advanced technology and processes to the Guangde Proving Ground,” said Kevin Wale, the outgoing president, GM China, and chief country operations officer, China, India and ASEAN.
“Our goal from the beginning was to make this a world-class facility. The greatest beneficiary will be our customers, who will receive even higher-quality vehicles that are equal to those built and sold anywhere else in the world,” Wale said.
The proving ground can carry out development, validation, certification, quality control evaluation, load data collection and analysis for vehicles less than 7.5 tons. It can accommodate up to 140 vehicles for testing simultaneously. About 20m km (12.4m miles) worth of testing are expected to be conducted annually.
To simulate different driving conditions in China, the proving ground contains eight specific test areas: an oval track, vehicle dynamics test area, long straightaway, ride and handling loop, noise test road, durability test area, corrosion test area and hill test area. In addition, it has 23,000sq m (247,569sq ft) of auxiliary space for labs, repair facilities and private workshops.
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By GlobalDataThe Guangde Proving Ground will support the design and development of vehicles by Shanghai GM and PATAC, significantly improving testing efficiency, shortening product development time and reducing testing costs. It will complement PATAC’s facilities in Shanghai, which include a Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) Lab, Vehicle Safety Lab, Envision Visualization Center and Climate Wind Tunnel.
Shanghai GM builds, imports and sells a range of Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet products. In 2011, it had record domestic sales of 1.2m vehicles.
