Automotive e-ssentials

TÜV SÜD builds mobility laboratory to offer testing of all types of drive systems

TÜV SÜD is further developing its Heimsheim-based exhaust emissions laboratory into a mobility lab, doubling its capacities in the process. In future, the lab’s six dynamometers will be used to carry out type-approval testing of electric and hybrid vehicles and combustion-engine vehicles for all relevant markets, including the USA, China and Korea. By expanding its testing laboratory in Heimsheim near Stuttgart, Germany, TÜV SÜD is building the largest mobility laboratory in Europe, and thereby sending out a clear signal of its goal to be the number one third-party service provider in this area. The opening of the mobility lab is scheduled for mid-2019.

“By expanding the Heimsheim laboratory, we are safeguarding tomorrow's mobility! In the future, we will be able to provide comparative testing of the environmental compatibility of all vehicle types, be they diesel, petrol, hybrid or fully electric”, explains Patrick Fruth, CEO of the Auto Service Division at TÜV SÜD. “At our laboratory, we will offer type approval according to all international guidelines.“ This will provide OEMs with a single point of contact for the approval of their vehicles in all relevant markets.

When testing various drive and fuel technologies, the third-party organisation will use dynamometers to test energy carriers of different types: tank (petrol, diesel, gas), grid energy and regenerative energy (recuperation). Using a CO2 equivalent, the vehicle experts can then compare the performance of the cars. In hybrid vehicle testing, for example, the vehicle’s electricity consumption is included in the result by being converted to CO2. CO2 emissions, in turn, increase in proportion to fuel consumption. The method enables fuel consumption to be calculated on this basis. Fruth predicts, “In future, motorists will be able to make direct comparisons of diesel, hybrid and fully electric vehicles.”