Test World says it has seen a significant increase in megatrend evaluation such as autonomous driving in a bid to attract more customers to to its year-round winter proving facilities.
The company, which recently opened its all-year Ivalo facility in northern Finland, is popular with tyre manufacturers, but is also able to evaluate OEM needs for alternative propulsion and autonomous driving.
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The facility, 30 miles from the Russian border, is owned by Millbrook and increases Test World’s capacity and capability for year-round cold weather testing as well as simultaneous, controlled and repeatable work on snow, ice, and wet and dry asphalt, 365 days a year.
The indoor facility comprises an asphalt track, totalling 410m in length, with wet and dry braking and longitudinal aquaplaning areas, bringing the total length of Test World’s indoor test tracks to 1.6km.
“If you are looking at the Spectris Group [parent of Millbrook and Test World], there might be some need for cold testing in winter conditions,” Test World managing director, Janne Seurujärvi, told just-auto on the sidelines of the facility’s recent opening in Ivalo, around 600 miles north of Helsinki.
“But you need to walk before you can run. [The] automotive industry is the biggest in the world, so it is still nice to remind yourself we are tiny player in this huge business and [the] possibilities are enormous.
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By GlobalData“Where we have received significant growth is vehicle testing. We are part of these automotive industry megatrends for new engine technology testing [and] autonomous vehicle testing in winter conditions. That is the vision.
“Many challenges and difficulties were encountered [constructing the Ivalo site], but they were all tackled. We want to provide our customers with the best test facility in the world – to help our customers save time and reduce cost.
“From now on we can offer our customers snow, ice, dry and wet asphalt throughout the year.”
- The indoor winter facilities at Test World consists of :
- 410m of snow and ice for acceleration and braking work, snow ingress tests and EV performance evaluations
- 350m closed-circuit snow track for cold driveability and handling tests
- 410m indoor asphalt track which contains:
- 100m of wet braking surface, conforming to UN/ECE Regulation No 117 (R117) for tyre testing
- 100m of dry asphalt for brake noise testing and tyre development
- 100m aquaplaning trough with 8mm water depth for tyre development
- Integrated climatic chambers operating down to -40°C for cold start tests, EV battery thermal management measurement and cabin heating performance evaluations
- 12 workshops, many with direct access to the indoor winter test facilities, managed by Test World’s team
