Changes in Testing Bring Ford Out of the Cold and Into the Lab

Since the dawn of the automotive industry, automakers have been racing against one another to be the first to bring new products to market. As the industry has matured, development cycles have diminished, while testing methods and capabilities have become more sophisticated.  Today, this allows Ford engineers to re-create the worst weather conditions nature can deliver. 

Ford has been conducting indoor cold weather testing since at least the 1940s for a variety of potential issues that can arise with engines, components, and other parts such as heating and electronics, when temperatures go to the extreme. Testing in controlled environments, re-creating elements like rain, snow, sleet, fog, and punishing temperatures, allows Ford to maximize its testing in the condensed timeline that is now common across the industry. But before these advances, testing was subject to the whims of Mother Nature. 

By the late 1990s, Ford had been testing outdoors in Northern Minnesota for decades. Located in the city once known as “the nation’s ice box” with temperatures that could reach as low as negative 40 degrees Fahrenheit, Ford’s Bemidji, Minnesota, facility was closed in August 1999. Mild weather conditions interrupted Ford’s testing and prolonged test trips to the city. The company had resorted to the use of refrigerated trailers in the years leading up to the city-owned building’s closure. 

“We’re trying to eliminate seasonal dependency by moving testing out of the field and into the lab,” said Bob Doyle, Dearborn Proving Grounds section supervisor, performance and cold rooms.

Ford had used the 7,000-square-foot facility, which was leased from the City of Bemidji, to conduct cold start, snow ingestion, and other cold weather tests. At the time, the company also had a cold weather testing facility in Thompson, Manitoba, Canada, and another in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. In 2022, the company reportedly sold the Canadian facility, which opened in 1997 and expanded in 2003.  

Ford continues to test at its Northern Michigan location, but the company is also utilizing facilities in Dearborn and elsewhere throughout the world to perform indoor cold weather testing. In addition to the added convenience of proximity and reduced travel costs, the labs provide consistency for environmental conditions that natural environments cannot.  

Since the early years of the automotive industry, Ford has worked to overcome the demands of increasingly short development cycles and the limitations of seasonal weather patterns. By embracing the controlled environments of laboratory settings, the company has become more efficient and increased quality in its cold weather testing. This forward-thinking approach ensures that Ford vehicles continue to meet the demands of our customers in even the most challenging climates, now and into the future.

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