Seat (Volkswagen Group) strengthens its commitment to promote the electric vehicle in Spain. The carmaker company has inaugurated in Martorell (Barcelona) the Test Center Energy, a new battery research and development centre for electric and plug-in hybrid cars. In addition, Seat plans to manufacture electric vehicles in Martorell (Barcelona) from 2025, and to play a key role in the democratization of electric vehicles to make them accessible to society.

The new Test Center Energy is part of Volkswagen‘s global research and development (R&D) network and it is the first that Volkswagen group has in Southern Europe. With an investment of 7 million euros, the centre will be used to develop and test the performance of energy systems for electric and hybrid vehicles from CUPRA, Seat, Seat Mó, as well as other Volkswagen Group brands.

«Today is an important day for the future of SEAT.   We have the opportunity, and responsibility, to completely change our industry.», said Wayne Griffiths, president of Seat. 

Cutting-edge technology for testing and validating batteries

The Test Center Energy is currently focusing on batteries for the MEB (electric) and MQB (hybrid) platforms, as well as different chargers used in all electrified vehicles. It can perform up to 6,000 complete validation analyses of high-voltage system-related functions (battery, charging, safety) annually. 

The facilities also house a workshop designed and equipped for testing electrified vehicles. Tests of the energy system, functional safety and function integration with all the electronics of hybrid and electric cars are carried out here.