Last year we carried out heat environmental testing and hot altitude testing for a luxury sports car manufacturer client. For this trip, it was time to layer up and get the cold environmental testing (CET) done.
How we cold tested
LRW offers CET as part of its range of testing services. Ensuring new vehicles perform in all environmental conditions – including extreme cold - is critical for OEMs creating prototypes.
The vehicles were run through the LRW standard test and validation plan, to ensure that the diagnostics (including emission control) work nominally at extreme cold temperatures - right down to -30. We also tested the vehicles when cold soaked, which enabled us to assess the warm-up profile. So just how cold did it get? Steven explains:
‘It was pretty cold! We saw temperatures of -30 on the trip and got a big dump of snow which gave us ideal testing temperatures of between -20 and -30. We’re looking for how rational the sensors are in these extreme conditions and checking for plausible behaviour in the car.
It’s a phenomenal experience – Kiruna is on land owned by the Sámi people so they’re herding thousands of reindeer on Ski-doos. I have to say the reindeer are seriously imposing, and when you’re driving a luxury car that makes you extremely cautious!’
Why cold environmental testing?
- To test any new powertrain - or variant - in a cold environment
- Testing in a ‘real life’ field setting can be more effective than that using a climatic chamber as a broader range of road conditions and temperatures can be tested
- To understand the normal parameters as a standard part of the calibration testing process
The LRW test team
The trip test team included LRW director and senior engineer Steven Higginson and calibration engineer Danny Harding. It was Danny’s first environmental test trip with the team which he fully embraced - and it wasn’t just the cars that got tested. Steven comments:
‘Testing trips are always full on but team LRW do like to embrace the local culture in our downtime. So, with apologies to our new reindeer friends, we did try out the local speciality of reindeer pizza. Also, it turned out that the Swedish craze for the game of padel had reached even this remote frozen corner, so Danny and I were inducted into that too – which thankfully was inside.’
Trip outcome
The diagnostics performed as expected and were stable in extreme cold conditions. The client feedback on team LRW has been excellent. Now thawing out, the test team are getting ready for the next cycle of heat testing later this year.
Need support with environmental testing?
Get in touch with the team at [email protected]
