Arjeplog, a remote town in northern Sweden, does not have a large population. Although this place is small, but there are many European and Asian car manufacturers here to test vehicles, it can be said that the world’s various car brands have to come to a trip, the importance of enough to shake the global automotive industry, is not trivial.
A new car before the official launch, car manufacturers will be a variety of tests on it! These car testing sites seem to have been very mysterious, each car manufacturer has its own unique test site.
For example, the American General Motors Group, located in England’s Millbrook test site, it is the largest car testing center in Europe, not only has a high-speed ring test section, but also many mountainous roads as well as off-road test sections. Many movies are set here!
The German BMW Group, for example, has two major test tracks in Europe, one in Ascheim, Munich, with a 67-hectare track that offers a circular track and a motorway-like course.
The other test track of the German BMW Group, in Miramar, France, covers 473 hectares, while the 52 km car test track between Marseille and Avignon in the south of France is a high-speed oval track and a replica of the Nürburgring’s carousel corners.
Millbrook test track
Ascheim test track
Miramar test track
And Aljeplug, close to the Arctic Circle, with its multiple lakes and the fact that they will freeze over in winter and cars can run on them, makes it an ideal testing location. It is possible to test the overall performance and test the durability of the battery in extremely cold temperatures.
Back in the late 1970s, Bosch, a German auto parts manufacturer, began testing its anti-lock braking system (ABS) in Aljeplug. Such tests require wide open spaces, which are not suitable in mountainous areas and unsafe on roads, so Bosch Germany tested them on the frozen lake in Aljeplug.
Most major Eurasian automakers now have a permanent base in Arjeplug, where they test their cars during the January to March period each year. The town is flooded with thousands of automaker employees and engineers every time the season comes around.
Starting in December, when the ice on the lake is 5 to 10 centimeters thick, work begins on setting up test lanes on the lake. As the ice gradually thickened, a variety of vehicles were sent to work on the lake, including snow plows. By the time the thickness reaches 45 cm, the ice can be used for test drives, but usually at least 60 cm before the work begins. At this point, the ice is thick enough to carry up to 25 tons of vehicles.
The driveway must be maintained frequently throughout the season, and the ice thickness must be measured from time to time, so the automakers hire the residents of Aljeplug to perform various tasks. The town’s hotels and bed and breakfasts, in turn, will see an increase in revenue from the influx of foreigners.
If you add in each car manufacturer in the construction of warehouses and other facilities in Aljeplug, the need for repair and maintenance costs, the annual amount contributed to the town by the automotive industry, up to 180 million U.S. dollars or more, equivalent to 1.2 billion yuan.
British Jaguar Land Rover (Jaguar Land Rover) European engineering operations department manager, Talboys (Phil Talboys) once said: “If there is no Aljeplug, many cars can not be marketed. It’s amazingly important to the industry for such a small, isolated place.”
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