To accelerate strategic knowledge transfer between motorsports and production vehicle development, General Motors is setting up a new technical centre in Charlotte.
The company broke the ground for the 130,000-square-foot facility, which will support racing efforts across all series in which GM competes. The site was chosen for its proximity to partner racing teams and major technical suppliers. The facility coming up at an investment of $45 million is scheduled to open in early 2022, a release from the company said.
GM Defense repurposed a previously announced site to produce the new Infantry Squad Vehicle, a light and agile troop carrier developed for the US Army.
Located in the heart of one of the country’s racing hubs and near colleges and universities, the centre will provide more opportunities for GM to recruit top talent in the fields of software engineering, computational science, electrical engineering, and other technical skill sets.
The new technical centre will feature advanced virtual tools, including three state-of-the-art Driver-in-the-Loop simulators, aero development and other software-enabled vehicle modelling technology that will enable faster analysis and iteration. The facility will expand auto maker’s capacity to process, analyse and leverage vast amounts of data, allowing its racing and engineering teams to optimise designs earlier in the development process while simultaneously delivering greater first-time quality.
Jim Campbell, Vice President, Performance and Motorsports, GM US, said the new location and larger facility is a clean-sheet design, tailored for technology development and collaboration with the company’s racing teams and technical partners.
According to Jim Danahy, Vice President, Global Safety, Systems and Integration, GM, the new Charlotte Technical Centre will expand vehicle maker’s engineering footprint in the epicenter of racing in the United States and improve its engineering speed and capability in both the racing and production environments.