The new Mercedes EQE under the magnifying glass - the eDrive test benches

One fast lap after the other on the high-speed oval in Nardò in southern Italy, winding uphill and downhill stretches on the Swabian Alb or hours of stop-and-go traffic on the Stuttgart Vineyards – some Mercedes-Benz employees experience such grueling traffic situations every day. And without ever leaving their jobs in Untertürkheim, because they "drive a car without a car". Mercedes-Benz tests the drives of electric cars on eDrive test benches. The electric drive of models from the rapidly growing Mercedes EQ family is tested on a total of 13 test benches in Untertürkheim. Seven of these are pure eATS test benches, where the power comes from a special direct current source, a so-called battery simulation. On the six eDrive test benches, testing also includes the battery and all of the vehicle’s charging components. There are also 13 test benches at the Nabern development site. A monitoring room with computers is connected to the test benches. The most important measurement parameters for the test operation are visualized on one of the many monitoring screens. They tell the test bench driver in real time during the test whether everything is OK or whether a problem is about to appear. Testing runs around the clock almost all year round. At the weekend there is an on-call service, automatic shutdowns are communicated to the responsible employees via instant messages or push messages on their smartphones. Remote access to the automation, diagnostics and measurement computers is possible