Daimler opened a new state-of-the-art testing and technology center in Immendingen, Germany. The company has invested more than €200 million in the research facility which spreads across an area of 520 hectares.
“In Immendingen, we are bringing together our worldwide vehicle testing and will further develop alternative drive systems such as hybrids and electric vehicles of the EQ product and technology brand, as well as testing future assistance systems and autonomous driving functions,” Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars has said.
With the so-called Bertha Area (an area for testing highly automated vehicles), engineers have a test module of 100,000 square meters at their disposal that is specially designed for all topics related to automated driving. The maneuvers performed there focus in particular on automated driving and the safety functions of current and future driver assistance systems along the way to autonomous driving. Challenging and complex traffic situations can be reproduced with high precision and as often as required.
In the Urban District module, driver assistance systems, car-to-x communication and autonomous driving will be tested under real conditions on a total of 1.5 kilometers of urban roads across various intersections. For example, it is possible to simulate under realistic conditions how highly automated and driverless vehicles communicate with each other to help make traffic safer in large cities.
Approximately 300 jobs will be created at Daimler in Immendingen. 170 employees are already developing and testing on more than 30 different test tracks, on which various driving conditions can be simulated. A particular focus is placed on the four strategic future areas of connectivity (connected), autonomous driving (autonomous), flexible use (shared) and electric drive (electric). Daimler has summarized these under the term “CASE.” More at: http://www.daimler.com/CASE
