OEM & Lieferant Ausgabe 2/2019 - OEM & Supplier 2/2019 by VEK Publishing

158 Services Vehicle testing 2.0 Interview with Mario Knop, Director Competence Center, Formel D and Wei Zhang, Director Sales, Formel D, China Vehicle tests help ensure vehicle quality under a wide range of external conditions. Formel D supports its customers in preparing, organizing, and carrying out test runs on public streets as well as private tracks and test sites. In an interview, Mario Knop (Director Competence Center at Formel D) and Wei Zhang (Director Sales at Formel D, China) discuss current challenges in the industry as well as the Formel D service portfolio. How do newmobility issues affect the area of vehicle testing? Mario Knop: The classic areas of testing are now also complemented by alternative drives, connected/community services, as well as ad- vanced driver assistance functions all the way to autonomous driving. The new technologies all have their own specific requirements. Be- sides testing and ensuring new functions or drive types, it is also about acquiring environ- ment and infrastructure data in advance or in parallel. What measures will Formel D implement to face these new challenges? Has the Group expanded its range of services in this area? Mario Knop: Formel D is active on all main markets in the areas described beforehand, covering around 21 million kilometers during testing in 2018 alone. Our greatest strength is that we are positioned globally and can control projects in Europe, the Americas, and Central Asia, which allows us to ensure consistency in quality. We qualify employees worldwide for newly emerging requirements – e.g., in the field of electromobility. This expertise is per- formed by the electrically instructed person (EIP) to the electrician – and, subject to the field of application; we also train them con- tinuously in the areas of vehicle technology moreover, driving safety. Wei Zhang: Serving the most significant in- ternal market for automotive manufacturing and sales, Formel D China is not only testing traditional vehicles but also new electric and autonomous vehicles. Primarily, the testing of autonomous vehicles no longer focuses on the car as themain subject, but also on completing the driving concept including perception sys- tem, decision system, and execution system. What vehicle types does Formel D offer testing services for? Mario Knop: We offer services for all vehicle types – frommotorcycles to passenger cars of Images: © Formel D Mario Knop Wei Zhang Image: © tiplyashina/stock.adobe.com