Innovative Facility Brings Automotive Testing, Research to Southeast

As automakers strive to build cars that are safer, more fuel-efficient, more economical and more intelligent than ever before, the North Carolina Center for Automotive Research (NCCAR) is poised to help them do just that.

NCCAR is an independent, non-profit center designed to meet the research, testing and development demands of the automotive industry. Situated on 620 acres along I-95 in Northampton County, North Carolina, NCCAR provides the facilities needed to test any kind of light-duty road vehicle. And it has the potential to bring dozens of new jobs to the local economy.

“We believe this will be one of those legacy projects for the state of North Carolina, which will change the dynamics for business and industry for generations,” said Northampton County Economic Development Director Gary Brown in a Roanoke Rapids (N.C.) Daily Herald article published January 21, 2010.

Phase IA of NCCAR features a 2.0-mile ride-and-handling course, vehicle dynamics areas with high-speed entry, client garages, conference rooms and site-wide Wi-Fi. Future facilities will include an additional 2.55 miles of ride-and-handling course, extended vehicle dynamics areas and a chassis dynamics laboratory.

Location, Independence, Infrastructure Differentiate NCCAR

Location, independence, and infrastructure are three aspects of NCCAR that differentiate it from other testing facilities, according to Simon Cobb, chief operating officer at NCCAR.

Typically, vehicles are tested at facilities owned by automakers or large suppliers, or at racetracks during the off season. Often, these facilities, which cater to one specific automaker, are located in remote areas, far from highways, hotels or even cell towers. NCCAR is 1.5 miles from I-95, proximate to restaurants and lodging, fully equipped with wireless technology, and only one day’s drive from Detroit. And its independent status makes it available to all manufacturers, educational facilities and researchers.

Racetracks, with their protection barriers, aren’t conducive to the standard testing automakers need. “Barriers damage the vehicle that hits them, and that’s not what you want to do to a very expensive prototype. If you have something that fails and it goes off the road, you want to bring it to a halt, undamaged,” Cobb explains.

NCCAR offers that type of infrastructure. “We have quite comprehensive infrastructure to support our road features; features were put into place in response to our market research,” says Cobb.

Public-Private Partnership

One of the most unique characteristics of NCCAR is its public-private partnership. In 2005 the North Carolina General Assembly first appropriated funds to develop the facility. The intent was to demonstrate the state’s commitment to supporting the growth of the industry through the development of physical and intellectual infrastructure; in effect, combining the talents and product development interests of the automotive industry with regional research, workforce and business development capabilities. Other funding has been provided by the N.C. Rural Center, Department of Transportation, Northampton County and private funding sources.

NCCAR has also established an alliance with the state’s university and community college systems that promotes collaboration on research, internships and student events. “We really encourage involvement with quite diverse areas of the academic program,” Cobb says.

Supporting Local Economy

The closest similar facility to NCCAR is the Transport Research Center (TRC) in Ohio, which was built in the 1960s. The TRC employed 700 people prior to being sold to Honda in 1988, and is credited with creating 60,000 “ripple effect” jobs in Ohio.

Officials predict that NCCAR will bring 50 to 150 jobs to Northampton County in the next few years, with the potential to create hundreds more “ripple effect” positions.

“NCCAR is located in a part of the state very special to me, having grown up literally less than four miles from the project site,” says Mark Smith, PE, LEED AP, McKim & Creed vice president who served as the program manager for NCCAR. “This area is now considered to be a ‘micropolitan,’ one of the 577 areas across the nation defined by the Census Bureau and Office of Management and Budget as urban areas based around core cities or towns with populations below 50,000.

“While micropolitan areas may not have the economic or political influence of large cities, they are nevertheless significant centers of population and production, drawing workers from a wide local area. Significant projects like NCCAR will continue to replace the jobs once filled by the textile industry during my youth.”

Research Projects

Research is in full swing at NCCAR. Current projects include a National Science Foundation-funded program to develop driver-assisting techniques for elderly or physically impaired drivers, driverless vehicle development and a lithium ion battery research project.

“There is no time more important than now to change the way we engineer, build and use our cars and trucks,” says Cobb. “NCCAR is purpose‐designed to assist automotive companies and research institutions in meeting these challenges.”

McKim & Creed’s pre-construction services for NCCAR included master planning, civil/site engineering, landscape architecture, and project management services, which involved orchestrating the activities of numerous subconsultants. Following the completion of the construction documents, McKim & Creed provided bidding and award services, and administered the contract on behalf of the owner. McKim & Creed won a 2010 Engineering Excellence Honors Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of North Carolina for this project.

Clearing, grubbing and erosion control work began in Fall 2008 for Phase 1A of the NCCAR site. “I am proud to be part of the effort to develop and construct research-oriented facilities in this part of the state that may have long-lasting, far-reaching impacts to the automotive industry,” says Mark Smith, PE, LEED AP, McKim & Creed vice president. (Photo courtesy of NCCAR)

In this photo taken in August 2009, track shoulders are completed and three stockpiles of sub-soil are in place for Phase 1B construction. (Photo courtesy of NCCAR)

Phase 1A of the NCCAR facility nears completion in this aerial photo taken November 3, 2009. Aspects of the facility shown in this photo include the 2.0-mile ride-and-handling course, integrated vehicle dynamics area with high-speed entry, the operations and engineering building, a security kiosk, earth stockpiles for future expansion of the ride-and-handling course, entry road and stormwater management facilities. (Photo courtesy of NCCAR)