Porsche kann nun seine Prototypen virtuell auf dem Nürburgring testen.
Digitalisation in the field of vehicle development is opening up a world of new possibilities for engineers at Porsche. At present, computers are used to design a new vehicle’s body, drive, chassis and electronics and simulate their operation. These digital prototypes are used to virtually verify the properties of the vehicle as a whole. For instance, during the current development process for Porsche’s first ever electric vehicles, a method known as network simulation is being used, enabling engineers to check factors such as interdisciplinary coordination of the energy management system in an electric car.
This has allowed design engineers to use a simulator to drive a Taycan around the Nordschleife track at Nürburgring as many as seven months prior to availability of a real-life prototype. As a result, they have been able to test and assess track performance without needing an actual vehicle. During this process, they focused particularly on electrical energy management, which plays an important role in achieving a sub-eight-minute track time on the Nordschleife. Vehicles can now therefore achieve a high degree of maturity before production even starts, which in turn increases the quality of the final product.
