Ford opens new testing facility

Ford has announced the official opening of the Advanced Centre for Automotive Research and Testing -- ACART.

A joint venture between Ford and the University of Melbourne, with financial support from the Victorian government, ACART consists of a multi-fuel emissions cell, an environmental testing laboratory and an engine dynamometer facility. The dynamometer is based at the University's Parkville campus, but the emissions cell and environmental testing laboratory are located on the site of Ford's proving ground at Lara, north of Geelong.

In conjunction with University of Melbourne representative Professor Iven Meels and Victorian Minister for the Environment Gavin Jennings Ford President, Marin Burela announced the opening of the facility at a ceremony yesterday (pictured).

The centre has cost $19.7 million, of which the state government contributed $6.7 million through its Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) program.

Importantly for Ford, the new facility has been standardised in accordance with Ford's global testing requirements. The company's testing facilities in Australia attain an equivalent standard for testing with Ford's two other global testing facilities in Belgium and Detroit.

Ford Australia is already fielding commercial enquiries from other car companies (even direct competitors) concerning the use of ACART, which was established from the start with the intention of supporting the whole automotive industry in Australia, not just Ford.

Furthermore, Ford Australia can offer the facility to its international divisions for environmental testing out of season or if other facilities are swamped with work. In the example of Ford Europe's facility being tied up with development of one model, another can be shipped to Australia for testing here -- and therein lies the importance of ACART meeting Ford's global testing standards.

Ford Australia had an Explorer on hand to illustrate how the various testing facilities are standardised. Testing of the Explorer must reproduce the same results in each of the three test centres for all three to be considered 'standardised'.

The environmental testing laboratory, according to Ford, can mimic climatic conditions beyond the scope of any similar facility in the Asia/Pacific region. Whole vehicles can be placed in a chamber for testing of HVAC and cooling systems in temperatures ranging from -40 degrees Celsius to 55 degrees Celsius and the wind tunnel can recreate winds of strength up to 250km/h and engineers can also adjust humidity in the chamber.

With the joint venture partners planning to integrate snow and rain factors in the not-too-distant future, it will just about replicate Melbourne weather, according to Marin Burela, quoting from one of his predecessors.

"Tom Gorman, some three years ago, stood here with John Brumby and suggested that all this facility would do is replicate a typical day in Melbourne," he told the press and dignitaries attending the ceremony, but he took on a more serious note to explain ACART's importance to Ford locally.

"It has previously been impossible to experience similar climatic extremes without making trips to locations outside of Victoria. Having these facilities close to hand means we can test a variety of different variables without having to leave the Proving Ground," said Burela.

Representing both the Victorian government and his own innovation portfolio, Gavin Jennings highlighted the importance of this facility as a piece within the local automotive manufacturing industry jigsaw.

"Victoria's automotive manufacturing sector employs around 27,000 people and had an annual turnover of $16 billion in 2008," he said. "This makes up 59 per cent of the total Australian market. Ford Australia is one of this country's biggest car manufacturers and their vehicle design, engineering and manufacturing facilities are all based in Victoria, employing 4000 Victorians."

While only officially opened yesterday, ACART has been operational for some time and was instrumental in development of the revised Falcon XT (more here). Ford is claiming the entry-level model with the optional ZF six-speed auto box now slides under the 10L/100km fuel use threshold -- barely.

At 9.9L/100km, the Falcon offers what Burela terms "four-cylinder economy", but more importantly, it's now producing CO2 emissions below the 241g/km cut-off for the Green Vehicle Guide, ensuring the Falcon in this configuration is a 5.5-star Greenhouse Gas-rated vehicle.

The change in the Falcon's fuel efficiency credentials is just the first fruit of the possibilities inherent in ACART. By providing the ability to test whole cars in situ, and not just components, ACART will speed up the whole process of vehicle development and allow Ford -- and other users -- the luxury of carrying out more testing rather than less.