Valmet Automotive is investing around seven million Euros (Rs 55 crore) in the construction of its new Battery Test Center (BTC) at Bad Friedrichshall, in Germany. With this location the company massively expands its test options for its own group and as a service provider for the automotive industry. New ways are also involved in the realisation of the building. As a result, the full test capacity will be available as early as February 2020. It is a unique test facility in the region of Heilbronn.

Olaf Bongwald, CEO of Valmet Automotive Group, described the Battery Test Center (BTC) as a key factor to the company´s ambitions in electromobility. In the autumn of 2019, for example, Valmet Automotive is launching its first large-scale production for battery electric vehicles in Salo/Finland, in a former Nokia plant.

Dr Robert Hentschel, managing director, Valmet Automotive Engineering with the Battery Test Center Valmet Automotive, said, “We appear on the market as a development partner for companies in the automotive industry. With our new Test Center, we are expanding in the Industry with a much-needed test capacity for batteries and battery systems of electric vehicles.”

In order to be able to offer these additional test services in a timely manner, Valmet Automotive has broken new ground with testbed specialist AVL (Austrian-based automotive consulting firm). So Valmet Automotive is expanding its existing battery testing capacities by adding four state-of-the-art AVL battery testbeds in container-based design. In comparison to traditional testbed engineering, the container-based design has the advantage of allowing testbed setup and pre-installation. This means in practice: during the past months, the container with dimensions of 15 meters in length, five meters in width an four meters in height each, were set-up and equipped at AVL in Graz to standards set by Valmet Automotive. Prepared in this way, the containers will be delivered in some weeks and built up on an area at Valmet Automotive in Bad Friedrichshall. It further claims that by February 2020, the full test capacity will be available.

As Stefan Sommer, Director of Testing Valmet Automotive, showed in a presentation at the groundbreaking ceremony, the containers will be set up on an area of 1.5 square meters. Cells, modules and complete battery systems will be tested for environmental compatibility as well as function and safety. The test centre will come with the ability to test peak performances of up to 3.2 A/1.2V/1.6kW. it also comes with a salt spray chamber with active energisation of high voltage battery systems of electric vehicles.

In addition to testing and prototyping, the company also operates body and powertrain development as well as battery system development in Bad Friedrichshall.