General Motors has broke ground on the new Charlotte Technical Center, a 130,000-sq.-ft. facility that will expand GM’s performance and racing capabilities. Additionally, the center will accelerate strategic knowledge transfer between motorsports and production vehicle development.
Representatives of Chip Ganassi Racing, Richard Childress Racing, and Hendrick Motorsports joined GM for the groundbreaking at the complex in Concord, NC. The site was selected for its proximity to partner racing teams and major technical suppliers. The new technical center will support racing efforts across all series in which GM competes. The facility is a $45 million investment for GM and is scheduled to open in early 2022.
“After more than a year of unprecedented challenges for everyone, we reevaluated our plans and found we could expand the footprint and scope for the Charlotte Technical Center to make it an even greater resource,” said Jim Campbell, GM U.S. VP of performance and motorsports. “This new location and larger facility is a clean-sheet design, tailored for technology development and collaboration with our racing teams and technical partners.”
The center will also provide more opportunities for GM to recruit top talent in the fields of software engineering, computational science, electrical engineering, and other technical skill sets.
The new technical center will feature advanced virtual tools, including three state-of-the-art Driver-in-the-Loop simulators, aero development, and other software-enabled vehicle modeling technology designed to enable faster analysis and iteration.
