In this interview recorded at Automotive Testing Expo Europe 2025, Anshit Sood, the company’s international sales manager, tells ATTI how Huber keeps up with ever-changing test requirements and talks about the innovations on display on its booth, including the new Unimotive Green Line temperature control systems.

Visit Huber in Hall 10, Booth 1315.

It’s not too late to attend the show! (May 20, 21 & 22.) Find out everything you need to know and register for FREE entry here

Its shakers, amplifier and logic module were among the intuitive products discussed that are designed to reduce downtime and improve efficiency. Watch the video to find out more.

Acutronic is headquartered in Switzerland and has served the motion field for 50 years. It has customers globally, including in the USA, Germany, France and India.

Granulic discusses how climatic testing is evolving in the latest edition of ATTI, which is due to land next week – keep your eye out!

Find out more about Automotive Testing Expo Europe here. 

The new seat regulation, developed by the FIA with funding support from the FIA Foundation, is designed to protect drivers and co-drivers from spinal compression injuries that may be caused by a heavy landing from a jump. This is achieved by suspending the seats inside the car with a specialized damper that absorbs the energy from an impact.

Using real-world data from incidents involving a heavy landing, which are recorded in the FIA’s World Accident Database, experts defined a representative ‘severe crash pulse’ as a target for the project to mitigate against – a 40g peak crash pulse orientated at an angle of 58° from the horizontal axis.

This crash pulse was then used in simulations to define the best force displacement characteristics for the seats installed in the competition cars, so that a dampening mechanism could then be developed and connected to the seats. Paolo Panichelli, an FIA senior research engineer and CAE manager, explained, “The success of this project has been fundamentally supported by the use of numerical simulation with virtual test dummies, to define the optimal characteristics of the attenuation system. It is a perfect example of how utilizing this tool allows for the development of a specific product without the need for extensive experimental campaigns.”

Following refinement through simulations, an optimal design for the impact dampener was manufactured and underwent laboratory testing that confirmed benefits of around a 50% reduction in the forces transferred from the car to the occupants during this kind of impact.

In the next step in the project, the FIA supported Prodrive in the development of a suspended seat connected to the roll cage via the specified damper, which was first implemented on the 2024 Rallye du Maroc. Data monitoring throughout the real-world testing phase found the device to be operating as expected and delivering significant safety benefits.

Marco Petrilli, the FIA’s head of research and vehicle safety, concluded, “This has been a really fantastic project to bring to the W2RC. We are driven by the data, and we identified this as an area where we could bring some significant benefits for the crews. Using the FIA World Accident Database we could define what a typical ‘high-impact’ landing that can cause a spinal injury looks like, and use that information to set our targets for the seat attenuator, and then set requirements for a device according to our extensive simulations. It’s a great example of how the FIA is always working to improve safety.”

This new five-simulator setup enables the driver of the existing Ansible Motion Delta S3 simulator at DS Penske – featuring full dynamics, 48K image rendering, a full 360° wrap-around screen and real Formula E cockpit – to interact virtually in real time on-track with four drivers in separate Theta Seat Sport simulators.

Phil Charles, deputy team principal and team president at DS Penske, said, “Having already experienced the superlative capabilities and engineering benefits of operating the Ansible Motion Delta S3 dynamic simulator – which we installed last year – we were keen to expand our simulator program to include multiple, simultaneous drivers in order to explore inter-vehicle and inter-driver situations. Ansible Motion’s new Theta Seat Sport simulator suite is now enabling us to do this.”

The latest software from AVL Racetech enables a multi-sim setup, with a vehicle modeling network providing unified multi-simulator connectivity.

Guillermo Pezzetto, global sales and business development manager racing at AVL Racetech, said, “AVL Racetech partnered with DS Penske and Ansible Motion to supply our state-of-the-art vehicle dynamics simulation tool for this innovative application.

“DS Penske’s multi-simulator solution enables the customer to simulate highly realistic race scenarios including traffic, thus creating a unique testing environment for the development of race car setups and energy management strategies.

“To maximize the benefits of this setup, the vehicle dynamics simulation used must be capable of realistically modeling the physical effects of running in traffic, which is exactly what our AVL VSM Race software is doing.”

Theta Seat is a part of Ansible Motion’s range of static and compact DIL simulators intended for virtual system integration and vehicle product development. The newly-introduced Sport variant – the first in the company’s new motorsport product series – is designed specifically for motorsport applications, with a sophisticated, engineering-grade computational architecture that powers highly detailed vehicle and environment models, plus interconnection capacity for multiple networked DIL simulators.

Supported by a modular, plinth-based physical structure, Theta Seat Sport provides a scalable and reconfigurable architecture. It can easily be adapted to different race series and scale from affordable price point specifications with gaming-standard controls up to sophisticated, more immersive setups with multi-function racing steering wheels and upgrade kits for Ansible Motion’s existing supplemental cueing and active loading systems for steering torque, pedal actuation, harness tension, helmet force and high-frequency actuation.

Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP), a 100% subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz Group which handles the company’s Formula 1 power units, and the Mercedes Benz Center of Competence for Battery Systems have worked together on the design and development of the system. Mercedes notes that HPP’s ability to rapidly transfer F1 technologies and know-how into high-performance automotive projects has been pivotal to the project.

After intensive testing on various test benches, the prototype solid-state battery was integrated into a Mercedes EQS at the end of 2024. The car was slightly modified to fit the solid-state battery and was equipped with all accessories to operate it. The first laboratory vehicle tests were already conducted in Stuttgart at the end of 2024 to prepare for the road tests which started in February 2025.

According to Mercedes, its solid-state technology has the potential to increase the gravimetric energy density for vehicle batteries up to 450Wh/kg at the cell.

Markus Schäfer, member of the Board of Management of Mercedes‑Benz Group and CTO, development and procurement, said, “Developing an automotive-scale solid-state battery underlines our commitment to innovation and sustainability. We’re therefore excited to announce that we’ve started road testing with a prototype vehicle equipped with this advanced technology. We will gain crucial insights into possible series integration of this cutting-edge battery technology.”

Mercedes states that the solid-state battery in the EQS-based vehicle allows for up to 25% more driving range compared to the same battery weight and size of a corresponding standard EQS battery. Further weight and energy efficiency is achieved through passive battery cooling. The development vehicle is expected to have a range of over 1,000km (620 miles). For comparison: with a battery capacity of 118kWh, the current EQS 450+ already offers a range of over 800km (497 miles).

“Ricardo has been integral to the performance of some of the world’s most high performing and exciting cars in recent years. They understand exactly what it takes to deliver engineering precision and driver engagement,” explained Zenvo CTO Jon Gunner. “The Aurora program gains momentum each week, and is now entering a critical phase. Bringing Ricardo on board as a technical partner is a major milestone as we continue to push the envelope of performance. From here, we will continue to challenge convention as the development program gears up, ahead of first engine fire up.”

Details of the transmission are still to be announced but Zenvo has confirmed that it will be a 7-speed, hybridized unit.

“We are delighted to have been named as transmission partner for the Zenvo Aurora program,” added Richard Guest, MD of Ricardo Performance Products. “Like Zenvo Automotive, Ricardo takes a no compromise approach to delivering performance for our clients and so we are thrilled to be able to bring Ricardo’s extensive experience in transmission and driveline innovation to this program. We look forward to supporting in the development of Zenvo’s lightest and most powerful road car yet.”

“After just two years, our power unit, consisting of a combustion engine, electric motor, battery and control electronics, is running dynamically on the test bench. The Audi Power Unit has already covered simulated race distances on the test bench,” said Baker.

“We gained a lot of testing time with the individual components in 2023 and were able to incorporate the experience gained into the next construction stages in parallel. Significant milestones and goals have been achieved, which gives the entire team a good feeling.”

Updates to F1 engine facilites

According to Dreyer, the F1 project required considerable upgrading and modernizing of its facilities. “Today, we have 22 state-of-the-art test benches at the site. Our new development tools are state-of-the-art and have enabled us to achieve a steep learning curve,” he said.

“By testing on the test bench under simulated racing conditions we gain important insights in this phase of the project. After the successful race distances with the power unit we will soon be doing the same with the entire drive system, which means the combination of power unit and transmission. At the same time, we are going full throttle with performance development in order to achieve the goals we have set ourselves.”

Dreyer added that track-specific development has reaped benefits: “Las Vegas is interesting for our development team in terms of overall energy management. Several alternating fast and slow corners and almost two kilometers of full throttle driving on the Las Vegas Strip provide the perfect development environment for fine-tuning the combustion engine and the ERS (energy recovery system) components.”

Dreyer also highlighted that it was particularly important to establish a broad base of expertise in all areas, to create a good foundation for the development of the individual components – combustion engine, electric motor, battery, control electronics, software.

“Our experience from previous motorsport projects with high-voltage technology, Le Mans, Formula E, but also from the current Dakar project, has helped us a lot,” he said. “We have already proven in the past that we can develop conventional, hybridized and purely electric drivetrains. Nevertheless, the challenge in Formula 1 is a completely different one in terms of cutting-edge technology and competition. This also applies to our partners and suppliers – we are experiencing a very strong commitment from all sides.”

Audi’s power unit team has already hit several important milestones since it began the project in spring 2022, from firing up its single cylinder test engine to the current running of its V6 engine and electric motor over a complete race distance.

“The fact that our entire team can fully concentrate on the development of the power unit for 2026 is an advantage for Audi,” said Baker. “The remaining time until 2026 is all about achieving our development goals in terms of maximum overall vehicle performance with full focus.”

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Find more expo news and videos here

Find more expo news and videos here