When the door wings of the climatic chamber swing open, there is a chill in the hall. The emerging fog is icy, in extreme cases it has a temperature of -70 degrees Celsius. But there is more – the chamber can generate heat of up to 130 degrees, and a wide range of humidity settings are possible. The climatic chamber is an important element of the new battery engineering lab recently opened by Volkswagen of America.
It was a very special moment for Wolfgang Maluche, Vice President of Engineering at Volkswagen of America. “When our CEO Scott Keogh gave his speech I shut my eyes for a moment and just felt joy,” said the engineer who moved to Chattanooga from Germany in 2018, where he set up the testing centre. “And my employees probably had a similar experience. I’m incredibly proud of the team and their performance.”