ARAI inaugurates a new homologation facility at Chakan

Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has inaugurated new homologation facility and Technology Centre at Chakan, Pune. With the installation and commissioning of this new vehicle crash test facility complete now, this new organisation offers services to automobile manufacturers for testing products for the domestic as well as the export market.

ARAI’s Chakan campus comprises of four laboratories -

1. Passive Safety Laboratory - This laboratory has the capability to conduct crash tests with the incorporation of an electric AC motor drive with a payload capacity of 3.5 tonnes.

2. Powertrain Laboratory - Testing of engines, powertrains and other accessories for their performance, with respect to power, efficiency and exhaust emissions, will be done in this lab. All these tests are in accordance with Indian and global regulations.

3. Fatigue and Materials Laboratory - In this laboratory, prediction of structural failures and evaluation of vehicles structural components, systems and sub-systems take place. A full vehicle or just the chassis is subjected to real-life dynamic loading conditions in this workplace.

4. Automotive Electronics Testing Laboratory - This is a unit that is still being set up. All the tests relating to the electric and hybrid electric vehicles will be conducted here.

This new ARAI facility is equipped with an elaborate array of equipment to conduct frontal, front offset and side impact tests. Carmakers can use this crash test infrastructure for their test purposes. It is expected to be used by car manufacturers quite frequently for their R&D purposes, knowing that the government is getting stricter by the day when it comes to safety norms.