Stellantis unveiled its innovative Moving Ground Plane (MGP) technology – a $29.5 million investment – at the company’s research and technical center in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
The upgraded wind tunnel will be able to measure and reduce airflow resistance from wheels and tires, which can account for up to 10% of total real-world aerodynamic drag.
Optimizing aerodynamic efficiency is crucial in the effort to extend the driving range of electrified vehicles on a single charge. This enhancement directly contributes to improved efficiency, benefiting customers with longer EV ranges and potentially reducing battery sizes, which in turn could lead to cost and weight savings.
The upgrade to the company’s innovative aero-acoustic wind tunnel simulates real-world travel while allowing test vehicles to remain static. Belts suspended by cushions of air enable wheel movement at all four corners, while a fifth belt runs longitudinally beneath the vehicle, mimicking on-road travel conditions.
This realistic simulation allows for more precise testing and aerodynamic improvements.
The upgraded wind tunnel will be able to measure and reduce airflow resistance from wheels and tires, which can account for up to 10% of total real-world aerodynamic drag.
Optimizing aerodynamic efficiency is crucial in the effort to extend the driving range of electrified vehicles on a single charge. This enhancement directly contributes to improved efficiency, benefiting customers with longer EV ranges and potentially reducing battery sizes, which in turn could lead to cost and weight savings.
The upgrade to the company’s innovative aero-acoustic wind tunnel simulates real-world travel while allowing test vehicles to remain static. Belts suspended by cushions of air enable wheel movement at all four corners, while a fifth belt runs longitudinally beneath the vehicle, mimicking on-road travel conditions.
This realistic simulation allows for more precise testing and aerodynamic improvements.
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MotorTranscript
00:00Originally, the wind tunnel was built in 2002 for $37 million.
00:08We're upgrading the tunnel, and this was a $29.5 million upgrade, and that upgrade represented
00:16the ability to take us to, again, a state-of-the-art moving ground balance system.
00:24We left the air path as it was.
00:26It was already a really great state-of-the-art air path, but we upgraded the balance and
00:31the ground simulation.
00:32So, we now have full moving ground, five-belt system, so there's a belt under each wheel
00:37and tire.
00:38There's also an 8.5-meter by 1.1-meter center belt that is underneath the vehicle, and that
00:45provides us a really, really great simulation of the real-world ground moving.
00:51This facility was essentially originally constructed to be able to attack fuel economy
00:57and high-performance vehicle stability and control, and this new upgrade just allows
01:01us to do all of those things just a little bit better than we could prior to the upgrade.
01:07But given the importance of aerodynamic drag to hybrid and electric vehicles, this was
01:13huge for us.
01:14And aero's really important for hybrid and electric vehicles because better aero means
01:19less energy to accelerate, and there's more energy available to harvest in a deceleration
01:25or a regen.
01:26And that's the reason why aero is most important vehicle attribute to a range of hybrid and
01:30electric vehicles.
01:32And since we can now measure the aerodynamic drag associated with the wheels and tires
01:37and the ground moving, it allows us to get a much more accurate solution, but also allow
01:43us to optimize those features that we previously couldn't measure.
01:47And that could be as much as 10% of the total vehicle aerodynamic drag we can now optimize.