Ten long years ago Porsche purchased the 1700 acre Nardò Technical Center in the Apulia region of Italy. In all that time, the brand has used the track to extreme benefit, testing, validating, and developing its cars there for high speed deployment of intelligent and connected features. It’s a subtle change from what the track was used for in the past, but an important distinction to be made. Porsche is doing more than just driving cars at high speed around the 7.8-mile circle. Pista di prova di Nardò is now the home for Porsche’s mobility future tests.
“The acquisition of the Nardò Technical Center by Porsche in 2012 was an important enrichment for the whole Porsche Group,” says Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Research and Development at Porsche AG and Chairman of the Shareholder’s Committee of Porsche Engineering. “From the very beginning, Nardò has been a cornerstone for our vehicle development and testing—due to its special tracks as well as in-depth testing expertise. During the last ten years, it has evolved substantially, enabling ourselves and customers from all over the world to develop and validate future vehicles even more efficiently.”
Porsche most recently updated the full high speed ring with ultra-high-speed fiber optic cable for the quickest instant data transmission possible. The company also recently installed a custom private 5G network on site to facilitate even faster data gathering. All of this ultra-fast data capture is used to control and operate automated driving vehicles at the high speeds Porsche vehicles are known to be capable of. How does a self-driving car react at 200 miles per hour? Perhaps only Porsche knows. And Nardò has been the key to all of that. With something like 85 million dollars in facilities investment spent over the last decade, the track now houses more than twenty individual test tracks, and has the facilities, infrastructure, and safety systems to manage high speed driverless testing. Not to mention the myriad high-speed electric vehicle charging stations for all the Taycan and Macan EV testing going on right now!
“Thanks to the support of Porsche and Porsche Engineering, the Nardò Technical Center has underlined its role for the automotive industry over the last decade,” says Antonio Gratis, Managing Director of the NTC. “At the same time, we were able to contribute to the growth of the entire local ecosystem in Apulia. We feel deeply connected with this prestigious region, its people and potential and strive to continue this successful path.”