On the 28th, after about four hours by car from Hangzhou, China, we arrived at the coastal city of Ningbo's Geely Automobile Holdings group safety center. On the 293.39m indoor vehicle crash test track, the 7X, a midsize electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) sold by Zeekr, Geely's premium brand, came to a stop. Moments later, a yellow test vehicle sped in at 85 km/h and slammed directly into the rear of the 7X.
With a loud bang, fragments from the 7X's damaged rear scattered in all directions. Despite the heavy impact, the 7X's body held firm without bouncing forward much, and only about half of the rear was destroyed. Surprisingly, the 7X's interior appeared nearly intact, and the dummies positioned in the front seats were still sitting there in their original form. Damage to the area where the battery is located was not noticeable.
The Geely group safety center, which opened in Dec. last year, is the world's largest vehicle safety testing facility. Here, in addition to Zeekr, vehicle safety tests are conducted for the major brands owned by the Geely group, including Geely Automobile Holdings, Volvo, and Polestar.
Near the safety center is Zeekr's production facility, the "Zeekr Intelligent Factory." This is a state-of-the-art plant that uses advanced manufacturing processes and technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robots, and big data to minimize production labor input while improving efficiency and finish quality.
A Zeekr official said, "In recent years, China's auto industry has grown tremendously in technology and design, centered on eco-friendly vehicles, and in particular the Geely group has risen to become a global finished car company," adding, "By pouring in massive capital to raise safety and technology levels, trust in Chinese cars is increasing in the global market."
◇ World's largest safety center that smashed five Guinness records
Inside the vast safety center, various testing facilities stood out. In a glass-enclosed space, snow and rain fell at set intervals or thick fog was emitted, and a bicycle-riding dummy passed in front of a moving vehicle while sensing changes in movement. It was a facility to test vehicles' autonomous driving functions in various weather conditions.
The Geely safety center, which spans 45,000 m2, was completed with an expense of more than 2 billion yuan (about 420 billion won). Over the past 10 years, the Geely group has invested 250 billion yuan (about 52.485 trillion won) in research and development (R&D), including safety facilities.
The Geely safety center set five Guinness records with the world's largest vehicle safety laboratory (81,931 m2), the world's longest indoor vehicle crash test track (293.39 m), the world's largest climate-related testing facility (28,536 m2), the world's largest crash test zone (12,709 m2) with adjustable angles from 0 to 180 degrees, and a safety laboratory equipped with the world's most diverse 27 test types.
In addition to vehicle safety, a separate organization called the "Golden Nose" team operates here to detect and block in advance harmful substances that could affect the human body. The Golden Nose team focuses on tests for volatile substances and odors, detection of harmful materials, and whether zero standards for harmful gases and odors are met.
Wang Fengxiang, director in charge of safety technology development at the Geely Research Institute, said, "The various countries and regions where the Geely group operates each have different climates, terrain, and road conditions, and driving cultures and habits also differ," adding, "To overcome these differences and ensure top-level safety, we are conducting a variety of tests at the state-of-the-art safety center."
◇ Factory features a 100% automated welding line with 703 robots
About five minutes by car from the safety center is the Zeekr Intelligent Factory. We entered the first stop, the press process facility. Although it was morning when operations were in full swing, production workers were hardly visible. Instead, several transport robots were busily carrying die products, and elsewhere other robots were welding or forming products.
The Zeekr Intelligent Factory is a smart production facility based on a "dark factory" that integrates 5G, AI, and big data to minimize human intervention. At approximately 1,335,400 m2, the plant can produce 300,000 vehicles a year.
The plant's welding process has achieved 100% automation with 703 robots deployed. The press process is also designed as a fully enclosed automated production line, using a high-efficiency method that forms multiple parts simultaneously with a single die. In the press and welding processes, the role of production workers is limited to checking various figures at each stage and determining whether there are any abnormalities.
A Zeekr official explained, "The automated welding line ensures a perfect bond through millisecond-level current control, and the painting process employs an AI vision scan system that detects micron-level defects to deliver high quality." The official added, "This kind of data-centric manufacturing system records the production process of every vehicle in real time and allows tracing even years later, enabling efficient quality control."