Allison (ALSN) Plant Gets a Face-Lift, Electrification Betters

Allison Transmission ALSN recently announced that it significantly enhanced the electrification testing capabilities at its Vehicle Environmental Test Center and revamped the same as the Vehicle Electrification and Environmental Test Center (VE+ET).

Inaugurated in 2020, the 60,000-square-foot VE+ET Center facility is located on the campus of Allison’s headquarters in Indianapolis. This state-of-the-art site is unprecedented in the Midwest, offering a truly distinctive set of capabilities. This industry-leading hub allows OEMs, body builders, suppliers and end-users to satisfy their medium- and heavy-duty vehicle testing needs in a single, environment-controlled location all the year round.

VE+ET Center includes a hot soak chamber, a cold soak chamber and two chassis Dynamometer chambers capable of simulating a broad range of duty cycles. Extreme environmental conditions, altitudes up to 18,000 feet and other on-road conditions can be replicated within the facility. A thermal feature was recently added to simulate solar radiant heat, which enables Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) testing. Testing is done on a wide range of propulsion systems including traditional powertrains, alternative fuel, electric hybrid, and fully electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

The latest rebranding was implemented by Allison to better showcase the unique capabilities of the facility as well as highlight the manner in which its engineers, external partners and clients are leveraging the center to facilitate electric vehicle (EV) development and validation programs.

The VE+ET Center refurbishment serves as an opportunity for Allison to support the continued development of next-generation electric propulsion platforms as well build new partnerships with established OEMs and new entrants in the transmission space.

Amid heightened demand to test and validate larger battery electric vehicles, the company increased the test center’s Battery Emulation capability to accommodate more than 500 kilowatts with a maximum of 900 volts DC for around the clock testing without the need to stop and recharge. Additionally, the facility offers commercial fast-charging capabilities at 150 kilowatts to remain prepared for meeting demands in the near future.

Allison is highly optimistic about this latest expansion and revamp. The services available at the facility will enable OEMs to take advantage of a repeatable, reliable and seasonally-independent vehicle electrification testing while reducing design and discovery time, and at the same time, simplifying the process to help them get vehicles to the markets faster.

Headquartered in Indianapolis, IN, Allison is a manufacturer of fully-automatic transmissions for medium, and heavy-duty commercial and heavy-tactical U.S. defense vehicles. In fact, the company is the largest producer of fully-automatic transmissions, holding the leading position in several niche markets. It also provides electric hybrid and fully electric propulsion systems.

Recently, Allison teamed up with Toyota Motors TM-owned Hino Trucks to become its e-Axle development partner for Class 6, 7 and 8 Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) trucks. It recently enhanced its eGen Power-axle portfolio with the launch of eGen Power 100S and 130D e-Axles.

Allison, peers of which include American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings AXL and Meritor MTOR, currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.