Audi plans to set up an innovation campus on the site of a former oil refinery together with the city of Ingolstadt. Despite the corona pandemic, the schedule will be kept.
IN-Campus GmbH, a joint venture between Audi and the city of Ingolstadt, already acquired a former refinery site in Ingolstadt in 2015 in order to set up an innovation campus. The IN campus will also be the headquarters of the “Car.Software” organization. This has been an independent business unit since January 1, 2020 and develops software for all brands of the VW Group. There will also be a cram test facility.
“Topics include emissions-free drive systems, autonomous driving and the user interface between vehicle and driver. The high-tech park will be used by both Audi and its partners, ”says Thomas Vogel, managing director of IN-Campus GmbH.
The necessary remediation of soil and groundwater should be completed by the end of 2022. While production at the nearby Audi plant was suspended for five weeks due to the corona virus, 500 people are continuing to carry out environmental restoration and construction work on the 75-hectare former refinery site under strict precautionary measures, a statement said. The buildings in section 1 are due to be completed by 2023.
These include the so-called project house, which consists of four structures and offers space for around 1,400 employees from Audi and selected partner companies. Another component is the vehicle safety center, whose construction should start in spring 2020 and take two years. The heart of the building is the so-called crash arena, which is crossed by two crash lanes, each 120 meters long. They are said to cause collisions at speeds of up to 120 km/h, including head-on collisions between a car and a barrier that is also moving. A third, shorter crash track for the side impact, various individual test benches, workshops and offices complete the equipment of the building.
