A new vehicle safety test lab has been added to the Nissan Technical Center North America (NTCNA) in Michigan. Badged the Safety Advancement Lab, the facility is the result of a more than US$40m investment. The company says it enables engineers can carry out 48 different passive safety crash test simulations on-site, streamlining the efficiency of results analysis and speeding up timing.
Said Mike Bristol, director, vehicle safety test engineering, NTCNA, ”Here in the Safety Advancement Laboratory, we’re focused on passive safety. Our vehicles come equipped with technology to help prevent a crash, but in the event that there is a collision, we’re focused on helping protect customers from injury and evaluating the vehicle structure performance, airbag performance, seatbelt performance and other mechanisms that help protect our customers.”
The 10,800m2 facility provides the capabilities to conduct full-vehicle crash testing, vehicle certification, advanced development testing and benchmarking. It houses high-speed photography systems, data acquisition equipment, a vehicle towing system and facilities for evaluating the integrity of high-voltage electric vehicle batteries. There are also a dummy calibration lab, space for preparing vehicles and a pedestrian safety lab on-site.
“This expansion underscores Nissan’s commitment to the region and enables us to be a global center of excellence for new vehicle testing. The goal of virtually zero fatalities is always guiding our work. The combination of this new lab plus our passive and active safety technologies can help us reach that goal,” commented Chris Reed, regional senior vice president, research and development, Nissan Americas.
