Automotive News Canada - April 2023 - 4

4
* APRIL 2023
An ever-evolving GM
proving ground tests
how electric vehicles will
fare in Canada's winters
By PETRINA GENTILE
T ORONTO CORRESPONDENT
TO MAKE CERTAIN THAT ELECTRIC
vehicles can perform in frigid temperatures
- a common concern for Canadians
- General Motors' Cold Weather
Development Centre in Kapuskasing,
Ont., is playing a pivotal role in the automaker's
electrification shift.
The proving ground, more than 800
kilometres north of Toronto, is GM's only
cold-weather durability testing site in
Canada. Its mandate
is to cold-weathertest
all GM vehicles
destined for North
America. Its role has
grown significantly
as GM aims to launch
30 new EVs globally
by 2025.
Walton: Testing
vehicles at the
Cold Weather
Development
Centre is
equivalent to
two years of
winter driving.
SUPPLIED PHOTO
" The Kapuskasing
Proving Grounds is
incredibly important,
not only for General
Motors but for
Canada, " said Tobias
Sünner, vice-president
of the Canadian
Technical Centre
(CTC) at GM Canada.
The cold-weather testing
facility is part
of the CTC, which
employs about 1,300 engineers and software
developers across four locations in
Ontario.
" The CTC is one of GM's largest automotive
engineering clusters in the world,
positioning Canada at the forefront of
automotive development
and testing, "
Sünner said.
Josh Walton,
engineering group
manager at the
Cold Weather
Development
Centre, and his team
of eight engineers
have already tested
the GMC Hummer
EV pickup and
Cadillac Lyriq crossover.
Several other
EVs are being tested
five to seven years
ahead of production.
MINUS 30 IS A PLUS
Testing vehicles
in Kapuskasing,
The cold-weather testing
facility in Kapuskasing, Ont.,
is part of GM's Canadian
Technical Centre. Every year,
150 to 250 vehicles are tested
on the grounds from late
October to late April.
PHOTO: PETRINA GENTILE
EVs ON ICE
The Cold Weather Development Centre
tested the Cadillac Lyriq EV and found
that its battery's driving range is
superior to that of the Chevrolet Bolt.
PHOTO: PETRINA GENTILE
where temperatures average -30C in
winter, is nothing new. GM started its
cold-weather work in the rural town in
1941. Back then, it was testing military
vehicles for the Canadian government. It
tested GM passenger vehicles when the
Kapuskasing Proving Grounds officially
launched on Feb. 14, 1973.
The site was small - only 23 acres
(nine hectares) - with 20 electricity
posts. Fast-forward 50 years, and the proving
ground now covers 272 acres (110 hectares)
and includes a high-tech 3.6-kilometre
test track,
13-vehicle garage,
30 cold cellblocks,
a squeak and rattle
building, decommissioned
airport runway,
battery lab and
facility to test battery
performance in
subzero conditions,
21 Level 2 chargers
and six 400-kilowatt
DC fast chargers,
which are not
yet available on the
market.
" The chargers
alone that we have
on-site here, if we
aggregated all that
power together, we
would power up to
1,500 typical homes, " Walton said.
The cellblocks are large, freezerlike
units designed to study the vehicle at a
consistent temperature during the thermal
cycle. They can fit two Chevrolet Bolt
EVs inside and replicate temperatures
-45C.
Since 2015, the company has spent
more than $16 million to transition the
The chargers
alone that we have
on-site here, if we
aggregated all that
power together,
we'd power up
to 1,500 typical
homes. "
Josh Walton
Engineering group manager,
GM Cold Weather Development Centre
site for the electric era.
Every year, 150 to 250 vehicles are tested
on the grounds from late October to
late April. During a 12-week test cycle,
two or three vehicles of the same model
undergo extensive tests 24 hours and
seven days a week. The testing is equivalent
to two years of customer use in winter,
Walton said.
EASING RANGE ANXIETY
Work didn't stop during the pandemic,
either. Engineers tested the electric Lyriq
in 2020 under strict precautions to prevent
the spread of COVID-19.
The testing is designed to ensure range
doesn't drop, charging isn't a problem
and every aspect of the vehicle is as solid
as its counterparts with internal-combustion
engines.
GM's partnership with ChargePoint, a
California-based EV charging infrastructure
company, enables Kapuskasing staff
to test the chargers as well as the vehicles
before they become commercially available.
Cellblocks
are designed to study vehicles at a consistent temperature. Each unit
can fit two Chevrolet Bolt EVs inside at -45C. PHOTO: PETRINA GENTILE
Engineers ensure that vehicles don't
creak, moan, rattle or have other glitches
by driving them through a squeak and
rattle building. The process is repeated up
to 20 times an hour, driving over bumpy
surfaces, rumble strips and speed bumps.
To test a vehicle's advanced driver-assistance
systems, there's a 3.6-kilometre
test track with Wi-Fi coverage. A smart
camera system follows vehicles on the
track. The decommissioned runway is
used for vehicle dynamics tests to validate
systems such as stability control and
antilock-brake traction control on gravel,
snow and ice.
During a 12-week cycle, a vehicle will
have its window rolled down up to 1,200
times to ensure it works in the cold.
Powering the Lyriq is GM's new
Ultium battery architecture, which will
be used in all new GM EVs. Only the Bolt
uses the last-generation battery pack.
In frigid temperatures, the range of the
Lyriq is far superior to that of the Bolt,
Walton said.
" The essence of what Ultium is and
the way it manages its thermal system is
markedly improved over the BEV system
[in the Bolt], " he said. " We definitely see
range [in the Lyriq] that is truer to EPA
ratings than what we did with the Bolt. "
- ANC
GM's partnership with ChargePoint
means the Cold Weather Development
Centre tests the chargers before
they're made commercially available.
PHOTO: PETRINA GENTILE
Automotive News Canada - April 2023

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