To make sure that electrical automobiles can carry out in frigid temperatures — a typical concern for Canadians — Common Motors’ Chilly Climate Growth Centre in Kapuskasing, Ont., is taking part in a pivotal position within the automaker’s electrification shift.
The proving floor, greater than 800 kilometres north of Toronto, is GM’s solely cold-weather sturdiness testing web site in Canada. Its mandate is to cold-weather-test all GM automobiles destined for North America. Its position has grown considerably as GM goals to launch 30 new EVs globally by 2025.
“The Kapuskasing Proving Grounds is extremely essential, not just for Common Motors however for Canada,” mentioned Tobias Sünner, vice-president of the Canadian Technical Centre (CTC) at GM Canada. The chilly climate testing facility is a part of the CTC, which employs about 1,300 engineers and software program builders throughout 4 areas in Ontario.
“The CTC is one in all GM’s largest automotive engineering clusters on the planet, positioning Canada on the forefront of automotive growth and testing,” Sünner mentioned.
Josh Walton, engineering group supervisor on the Chilly Climate Growth Centre, and his workforce of eight engineers have already examined the GMC Hummer EV pickup and Cadillac Lyriq crossover. A number of different EVs are being examined 5 to seven years forward of manufacturing.
MINUS 30 IS A PLUS
Testing automobiles in Kapuskasing, the place temperatures common -30C in winter, is nothing new. GM began its cold-weather work within the rural city in 1941. Again then, it was testing army automobiles for the Canadian authorities. It examined GM passenger automobiles when the Kapuskasing Proving Grounds formally launched on Feb. 14, 1973.
The positioning was small — solely 23 acres (9 hectares) — with 20 electrical energy posts. Quick-forward 50 years, and the proving floor now covers 272 acres (110 hectares) and features a high-tech 3.6-kilometre check observe, 13-vehicle storage, 30 chilly cellblocks, a squeak and rattle constructing, decommissioned airport runway, battery lab and facility to check battery efficiency in subzero circumstances, 21 Degree 2 chargers and 6 400-kilowatt DC quick chargers, which aren’t but out there available on the market.
“The chargers alone that we’ve got on-site right here, if we aggregated all that energy collectively, we’d energy as much as 1,500 typical properties,” Walton mentioned. The cellblocks are massive, freezerlike items designed to check the car at a constant temperature throughout the thermal cycle. They will match two Chevrolet Bolt EVs inside and replicate temperatures -45C.
Since 2015, the corporate has spent greater than $16 million to transition the location for the electrical period.
Yearly, 150 to 250 automobiles are examined on the grounds from late October to late April. Throughout a 12-week check cycle, two or three automobiles of the identical mannequin bear intensive checks 24 hours and 7 days every week. The testing is equal to 2 years of buyer use in winter, Walton mentioned.
EASING RANGE ANXIETY
Work didn’t cease throughout the pandemic, both. Engineers examined the electrical Lyriq in 2020 underneath strict precautions to stop the unfold of COVID-19.
The testing is designed to make sure vary doesn’t drop, charging isn’t an issue and each side of the car is as stable as its counterparts with internal-combustion engines.
GM’s partnership with ChargePoint, a California-based EV charging infrastructure firm, allows Kapuskasing workers to check the chargers in addition to the automobiles earlier than they grow to be commercially out there.
Engineers be sure that automobiles don’t creak, moan, rattle or produce other glitches by driving them by way of a squeak and rattle constructing. The method is repeated as much as 20 instances an hour, driving over bumpy surfaces, rumble strips and velocity bumps.
To check a car’s superior driver-assistance methods, there’s a 3.6-kilometre check observe with Wi-Fi protection. A sensible digicam system follows automobiles on the observe. The decommissioned runway is used for car dynamics checks to validate methods equivalent to stability management and antilock-brake traction management on gravel, snow and ice.
Throughout a 12-week cycle, a car could have its window rolled down as much as 1,200 instances to make sure it really works within the chilly.
Powering the Lyriq is GM’s new Ultium battery structure, which will probably be utilized in all new GM EVs. Solely the Bolt makes use of the last-generation battery pack. In frigid temperatures, the vary of the Lyriq is way superior to that of the Bolt, Walton mentioned.
“The essence of what Ultium is and the way in which it manages its thermal system is markedly improved over the BEV system [in the Bolt],” he mentioned. “We positively see vary [in the Lyriq] that’s more true to EPA rankings than what we did with the Bolt.”