Rainer Zietlow and his team once again set a new record back in spring by being the first to drive to the northernmost point of the U.S. Highway System in extreme sub-zero temperatures in an all-electric vehicle, a Volkswagen ID.4. To begin with, the route went from the south of Alaska (Homer) to Deadhorse in the north, which was the starting point of the record run. From there, it covered the entire length of the USA to the city of Key West in the south. The team has now presented their experiences at Bertrandt.
The planned route is a major challenge for an electric vehicle, as the road network in Alaska has hardly any electric charging infrastructure. For that reason, Rainer Zietlow and his team relied on Bertrandt’s expertise. The engineering service provider offered its support in advance, including project planning to determine possible charging stations, and it also tested the car under real conditions and was the technical contact throughout the entire record attempt.
“Our chassis dynamometers enable us to simulate all kinds of environmental scenarios. This means, for example, that we can create Alaskan conditions in our testing facility and test how a vehicle behaves at -25 °C and when driving on snow. In this case, we focused in particular on the behavior of the battery, charging in cold conditions, the driving range at sub-zero temperatures, and other possible challenges. It was very exciting to see how our forecasts were later put into practice in real driving conditions,” said Torsten Schatterny, Head of Department, Powertrain Solutions and Test Center North.
The test center at the Tappenbeck site is capable of testing many different scenarios in accordance with the latest legal requirements. It provides space for 160 vehicles. At the facility, Bertrandt has various (climate) chassis dynamometers and charging points for electric vehicles. In addition, the experts can test the complete vehicle emissions and carry out so-called SHED tests. A particular highlight is the chassis dynamometer with an altitude chamber. The chamber can be used to simulate altitudes of up to 4,200 meters. It also has a sunlight simulation system that can be used to generate various levels of solar irradiation. This makes it possible to simulate special driving situations, for example mountain driving or hot country tests. Carmakers no longer need to travel to specific countries for each individual test, but can now carry out these tests locally. That represents an important step towards more efficiency, as well as more sustainability and environmental protection in this area.
About Bertrandt
Through our development performance, we accelerate technological progress and make a relevant contribution to a sustainable future. We are an independent and international development service provider with long years of automotive expertise. With cross-industry know-how and a holistic understanding of systems and products, we create technological solutions at any stage of the product development process. We deal with a focus on hot topics such as digitalization, e-mobility and autonomous systems, mainly for the automotive, aerospace and mechanical engineering sectors, and consistently facilitate the development of tailored solutions in these areas. We work on this every day – with around 14,000 employees at over 50 sites worldwide.
