The the facility is located at the Honda Automotive Laboratories of Ohio — HALO — in East Liberty. Several politicians, including Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman and Congressman Jim Jordan, were on hand.
“The testing that they can do here is going to lead to next generation innovations in electric vehicles, in safety, in fuel efficiency and aerodynamics. And it is here in Ohio,” Husted said.
“We are doing cutting edge things in Ohio in science and innovation. That is going to generate benefits for the people of this state. Because this is going to be a facility that is going to attract some of the best minds in the world to Ohio,” he added.
The wind tunnel is expected to play a key role in the design of future Honda and Acura models, including electric and race vehicles, as the facility will allow for extremely finite measurements, the company said. The facility is unique in that it has three separate state-of-the art testing functions — aerodynamics, aeroacoustics and racing — in one location.
“Honda’s product development capabilities will advance to new heights, thanks to this investment in our Ohio research operations,” Jim Keller, executive vice president of Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, and leader of the company’s North American Auto Development Center said in a release. “With this new facility, Honda is not simply investing in an advanced technology facility but in the future of the Honda engineers and other researchers who will work here.”
Honda created the multifunctional HALO facility to reinforce its commitment to developing fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive vehicles, the company said in a release. The wind tunnel uses a interchangeable modular ground plane system capable of aerodynamic vehicle testing of production vehicles and race machines.
“We will use this facility to not only make the current internal combustion engines that we are making now better, but we’ll also use it to make future battery electric vehicles,” said Mike Unger, the wind tunnel lead at the new facility.
The tunnel can generate wind speeds of more than 190 miles per hour and uses a five-belt rolling road system designed for production vehicle development as well as a second single wide-bel system to test both high performance sports cars as well as purpose-build race vehicles, according to Honda.
Honda representatives also stated that the wind tunnel will help with noise reduction in future vehicles as the company continues to move toward electrical models.
“Absent engine and exhaust sounds, wind noise will be more noticeable inside the cabin of an electric vehicle. Using the acoustic test system, Honda engineers will be able to identify the precise locations of both interior and exterior noise issues more quickly than ever before,” the company said in a release.
Unger said that the new wind tunnel has the ability to conduct different types of test related to a variety of Honda products.
“So this facility has the ability to do aerodynamic testing, basically improving the range and fuel economy of our vehicles. We also have the ability to improve wind noise. We can do it more efficiently than ever before with our acoustic systems here. We also have the ability to test racecars at speeds as high as a little over 190 milers per hour,” he added.
Construction for the 110,000 square foot facility that contains the wind tunnel began in 2017. It marks the company’s latest investment in Ohio, in which it has had a presence for over 40 years.
“We’ve already started doing operational readiness. We will phase in over the next six months and will be fully operation by this fall,” Unger said.
Twenty people work in the new facility.
“We’ll have additional teams come from the Auto Development Center that will bring test cars here. They will work on the cars. The team here will work on the tunnel,” Unger said.
In the future, the facility will also be opened to aerodynamic and acoustic research outside of just Honda employees, company representatives said.
About the Author
