For practically 4 many years, BMW has been utilizing the Miramas Check Middle in southern France to develop and refine its upcoming fashions. Initially constructed as a high-speed oval a century in the past, the power has developed into one in every of BMW’s most safe and versatile proving grounds. The Miramas facility, previously owned by Michelin, contains intensive high-speed banked asphalt sections. When journalists are granted entry, their cellphone cameras are taped over to keep up the location’s strict confidentiality.
Every year, as much as 4,000 prototypes are put by means of rigorous testing throughout its 65 kilometers of various check tracks, which embody high-speed circuits, off-road sections, and dealing with programs that simulate real-world driving circumstances.
Having visited Miramas a number of occasions through the years, we’ve seen firsthand how the location operates. In contrast to different BMW check places—such because the well-known winter testing grounds in Arjeplog, Sweden—Miramas is very safe, making it one of many few locations the place pre-production autos may be examined with and with out camouflage. Nonetheless, loads of prototypes roam the power in full disguise, from future M fashions to next-generation electrical automobiles.
A Managed Setting for Excessive-Tech Testing
One of many essential benefits of Miramas is its capacity to offer year-round testing, because of the area’s delicate local weather. In contrast to places that face harsh winters or excessive summer season warmth, Miramas permits BMW engineers to conduct endurance and growing older exams with out main seasonal interruptions.
Over the previous decade, BMW Group has invested round €44 million to maintain the location updated with the newest testing tools. The power has additionally develop into more and more centered on electrification, with engineers conducting intensive evaluations of battery efficiency, charging expertise, and vitality effectivity. The middle is presently getting used to check BMW’s first hydrogen-powered gas cell electrical car (FCEV), which is anticipated to enter manufacturing in 2028.
A Key Web site for BMW’s Future Growth
Whereas Miramas is primarily a analysis and improvement facility, it additionally performs an necessary position in BMW’s broader enterprise technique. The positioning helps round 140 direct and oblique jobs and contributes roughly €14 million yearly to the native economic system. BMW sources supplies and providers from over 300 suppliers within the area, and agreements with organizations like Air Liquide have led to the set up of hydrogen refueling infrastructure on-site.
Whereas it is probably not as well-known as BMW’s winter proving floor in Sweden or its Nürburgring testing applications, Miramas stays an important a part of the corporate’s car improvement course of. Whether or not testing the boundaries of inner combustion engines, refining the newest battery-electric powertrains, or evaluating rising hydrogen gas cell expertise, the power performs a behind-the-scenes position in shaping BMW’s subsequent era of autos.
We’re probably heading again to Miramas within the close to future to check one more thrilling BMW. Keep tuned!
