Bentley opens new engineering test centre

Bentley has commenced operations at its new, state-of-the-art engineering test centre.

The two-storey, 4,600sqm facility also includes 773sqm of office space, as well as 1,550sqm created for the installation of a climate-controlled chassis dynamometer. With official approval from Britain's Vehicle Certification Agency, the test centre will allow Bentley to carry out in-house emissions, fuel economy and electric range testing to the highest global standards.

This highly-advanced rolling road allows engineers to simulate different gradients of hill, measuring exhaust emissions from combustion engine cars, or electrical energy consumption from hybrid and future electric models. The 'real world' simulations can also be completed across a range of temperatures, from -20 degrees to 50 degrees Celsius.

Bentley's Technical Conformity department, responsible for the compliance of all Bentley products, will be based at the new centre. There will also be a dedicated laboratory to run Real Driving Emissions using the latest, state-of-the-art portable emissions measurement systems. In total, the new facility will house 100 Bentley colleagues.