Applus+ Idiada wants to expand its facilities with European funds

The Catalan multinational Applus+ Idiada will begin constructing new test tracks and facilities for connected and autonomous vehicles in the first quarter of 2021. The works are expected to finish by mid-2024. When this new infrastructure is ready, the entire surface area that Applus+ Idiada has at its technology center in Santa Oliva, in Baix Penedès, will be completely occupied. European funds may serve to expand its facilities onto new land, a proposal on which the company and the Generalitat are already working.

[subscribe_newsletter_esp]

"We need an alternative place and, if possible, nearby," explains the Corporate Development Director, Ramon Zabala. Nothing is finalized yet, but the idea is to build more laboratories and tracks to continue contributing to the development of the vehicle of the future, an approach that fits perfectly with the objectives of European funds.

European funds can also help Applus+ Idiada innovate in other areas, such as digitalization programs for smart and sustainable automobiles that allow progress in the conception of mobility as a service, according to Zabala. The company wants to find support in European funds to carry out these projects, although it also plans to make its own investment.

Applus+ Idiada specializes in offering design, engineering, testing, and homologation services for the automotive industry. The Albornar technology center has a total area of 365 hectares, with up to 12 circuits and vehicle testing and development laboratories, and has a workforce of 1,334 people. Globally, the company's main shareholders are the Applus+ group (with 80% of the shares) and the Generalitat (20%), and it operates in 24 countries and has about 2,500 employees.

New test tracks and facilities for connected and autonomous vehicles

The construction of new test tracks and facilities for connected and autonomous vehicles in Santa Oliva, which will exhaust the currently available surface area in the complex, will serve to deepen more specific functions of this type of car. Applus+ Idiada has a long history in the development of autonomous driving: they started working in the early 2000s with research projects and then through contracts. A year ago, they created their first track for advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), which cover more incipient stages of the autonomous vehicle.

That is why the Catalan multinational has decided to go a step further and build more specific spaces to develop autonomous vehicle driving, with the support of the Government, which will allocate a total of 15.3 million euros.

The works will be carried out in two phases. The first will serve to build a test area on a highway and an "easy" urban environment, that is, with avenues and without historic centers, as Zabala clarifies. This first part will begin in the first quarter of next year and will end in the second quarter of 2022, at which point they will already begin to test products, even if the second phase is missing, so as not to waste time and keep moving forward. The second phase will be responsible for finishing defining the urban scenarios ---this time with alleys--- and creating a rural road, and will begin in early 2023 and end in mid-2024.

In these scenarios, Applus+ Idiada will carry out tests in which obstacles will arise, such as pedestrians or tractors, and these intelligent cars will have to overcome them. To do this, it will use physical and virtual objects. All this will serve to ensure that, once they go out to do street tests, the risks are minimal.

According to the Generalitat's calculations, the construction of the circuit will generate up to 243 annual jobs, including direct, indirect, and induced, and will contribute an additional GDP of 12.3 million euros. When operational, the new tracks will mean the creation of between 50 and 80 jobs and will contribute a growing GDP of between 2.5 million and 4 million euros annually. The Department of Business and Knowledge defends that this is a strategic investment that will enhance the competitiveness of the facilities and the future of the automotive industry in Catalonia.