WITH WLTP testing for commercial vehicles due by September 2019, Volkswagen is ensuring its vans won’t suffer the same fate as the Group’s cars which are still awaiting testing in some cases. The company has invested 6m euros in a testing facility at its Hannover site.
The new test centre will not only be used for type approval for every one of the company’s vehicles but also to check vehicles in production on a continuous basis.
The facility features two test beds which will be used on a two-shift basis by 15 staff.
Metin Karsak, Emissions Test Centre Manager, said:
“The new building and the cutting-edge equipment installed in it enable us to reproduce the required test cycles with outstanding precision.”
So what does the emission testing facility have?
In addition to the rolling road test beds a key component of the new building is the master control station, via which all tests and cycle phases are monitored.
Inside a clean room, the particulate output of each tested vehicle is weighed on vibration-free precision scales (precise to 0.001 milligram). In order to keep any vibrations at bay, they sit on a cast-iron, 500 kilogram base filled with concrete and a spring-cushioned granite slab 20 centimetres thick.
The prescribed temperature in the room is a constant 22 degrees with air humidity of 45 per cent.
