In 18 months, the durability team at General Motors’ Milford Proving Ground, USA, can put a vehicle through an entire lifecycle. Durability tests are long, repetitive and physically demanding.
25 Oct 2014 | 2859 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
In 18 months, the durability team at General Motors’ Milford Proving Ground, USA, can put a vehicle through an entire lifecycle. Durability tests are long, repetitive and physically demanding.
“In 90 years, what hasn’t changed is that durability testing is physical,” said Stephen Jenkins, director, Global Proving Ground Operations, ...
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In 18 months, the durability team at General Motors’ Milford Proving Ground, USA, can put a vehicle through an entire lifecycle. Durability tests are long, repetitive and physically demanding.
“In 90 years, what hasn’t changed is that durability testing is physical,” said Stephen Jenkins, director, Global Proving Ground Operations, Test Labs and Vehicle Material Engineering. “We can mathematically calculate how well a part should hold up under certain conditions, but it isn’t until we get a driver in the product and test over and over again that we can be sure.
Here are some of the benchmarks a vehicle must endure before the Milford durability team will release it for production.
“We are always pushing ourselves to test even the smallest part of a vehicle to ensure that the entire product from the engine down to the screws and bolts are tough enough to handle the driving our customers need,” Jenkins said.