Geely opens $284 million auto testing facility in China
China’s Geely Auto Group has opened 881,894 square-f00t vehicle testing center with a $284 million price tag in Ningbo, located in eastern China.
A company press release claims the Geely Safety Centre is largest automotive testing facility in the world.
The Guinness World Records has also awarded the center for most tests available (27) in an automotive safety test laboratory, largest automotive safety laboratory building, longest indoor car crash test track (962 feet), largest altitude-climate wind tunnel facility for car testing (307,161 feet), and largest arbitrary-angle (0-180°) car crash test zone (136,801 feet).
“The Geely Safety Centre covers the full spectrum of global safety testing, from high-speed crash tests and pedestrian protection to active safety simulations, battery and new energy powertrain safety, cybersecurity, and health-related safety evaluations,” Geely’s release says. “Going beyond just the standard vehicle and occupant safety tests, the new centre has been built to support Geely’s comprehensive safety for the intelligent vehicle era.”
The center uses global best practices in automotive safety development by combining insights from international safety leaders with Geely’s R&D capabilities, the release says. It says the team is able to push safety performance beyond regulatory requirements.
Geely adds that the center strengthens a collaboration with institutions such as CATARC and Tsinghua University.
The Center opens following China pushing new regulations around autonomous driving. The nation’s Ministry of Science and Technology published new guidelines in July which include bans on false information in research results.
Earlier in the summer, China banned automakers from using the terms “autonomous driving” and “smart driving” in advertisements.
It comes after a fatal crash involving Xiaomi’s SU7 sedan that has triggered safety concerns, Reuters says.
Forbes reports that while the cause of the crash is unclear, Chinese regulators’ reaction is that drivers need to know what their car can actually do. It notes that the UK government’s 2024 Automated Vehicles Act made it an offense to use misleading language in marketing such technologies.
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Photo courtesy of Geely.