Real Driving Emissions centre wins global award

.The £8.3m centre was part financed by the South-East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership through the UK government’s Local Growth Fund. It is the first of its type in the UK and offers vehicle manufacturers a unique opportunity to cut the timescales and costs required to ensure that their vehicles comply with RDE and WLTP test regulations due to complete implementation in September 2019. 

Simon Reader, engineering director at MAHLE Powertrain, stated: “Our RDE Centre represents a significant investment in providing a solution to an industry challenge. We are delighted that the benefits have been recognised by such a prestigious award.

“The RDE Centre integrates simulation and whole-vehicle development in a virtual environment and, together with on-road (PEMS) testing, provides an end-to-end process using the latest tools and techniques as early as possible in a vehicle programme. This cuts development times and costs for vehicle manufacturers and offers them the opportunity to conceptualise, develop and validate future propulsion systems on a truly representative real driving emissions cycle.”

MAHLE Powertrain was the first company in the UK to gain VCA approval for its RDE test routes and has now amassed considerable PEMS experience. The RDE Centre has a hypobaric capability, which enables precise altitude testing of vehicle propulsion systems as a key component of a complete development solution. As part of a planned growth strategy, innovative electric motor and battery performance test facilities are now being extended, to support MAHLE Powertrain’s dual strategy of ICE and electrification systems development.

Reader continued: “We use VCA certified RDE routes that can be simulated in a virtual environment and on the chassis dyno without setting foot, or tyre, on to tarmac. This means engineers have the opportunity to make dynamic revisions swiftly and efficiently as part of a robust development process, without having to go to and from road driving at altitude.

“The ability to handle entire end-to-end programmes whilst reducing the reliance on on-road testing enables the streamlining of vehicle development both in terms of cost and time. This can help ensure that vehicle manufacturers are ready for the latest stringent legislation. Our decision to further extend our electrical performance testing facilities was the logical next step.” 

The breadth of MAHLE Powertrain’s RDE Centre’s capability provides a timely solution for vehicle manufacturers seeking to develop technologies in the face of stricter regulations. The Centre’s barometric vehicle test chamber is used to apply altitudes of up to 5,000m and complements the facility’s existing expertise. Temperatures of between -40 and +60°C can be simulated along with appropriate road gradients, using a leading-edge 4WD chassis dyno.

MAHLE Powertrain has designed the RDE Centre to simulate a wide range of conditions: the highly configurable facility can carry out test procedures in humidity levels between ten and 80%, at up to speeds of 250km/h and a maximum altitude change of 166m/min, which helps make it suitable for testing against nuanced regional requirements globally.

Reader added: “The ability to provide exceptionally close correlation with real-world operating conditions will provide manufacturers with a crucial time advantage when it comes to developing powertrain technologies that reduce real-world emissions. Our industry-leading skills and resources can simplify compliance with increasingly challenging real-world emission regulations.”

The Engine Test Facility of the Year award from ATTI is judged based on nominations made by industry peers, which include senior powertrain and testing engineers, directors and decision-makers.

Reader concluded: “Winning the award so soon after we have opened the centre shows how such facilities will be key to powertrain development in the future. Our new RDE Centre now gives MAHLE Powertrain customers vital time and cost advantages.”