Testing Powertrain to move the future
Current trends such as emission‐free vehicles or CO2‐neutral development and production demonstrate the growing importance of sustainability in the automotive industry. This industry segment is going through a significant phase of change. Key elements of this transformation are electromobility, autonomous driving and connected vehicles. The growing demand for electric cars and innovative mobility concepts shows how important sustainability has become.
The transformation focuses on climate change and CO2 emissions as well as the sustainability of the value chain. Climate change and its effects have long been part of a broad social debate. As a result of this, the legislature has significantly tightened the requirements for CO2 emissions in recent years. Automotive manufacturers need to reduce CO2 emissions both in vehicle production and for the vehicle fleet. In this context, the use of alternative drive trains such as fuel cells play an important role. As natural resources are becoming increasingly scarce, sustainable material chains are becoming increasingly important to the automotive industry. These are based on the principle of reusing and recycling resources. Automotive manufacturers count on biodegradable components and sustainable processes in research, development, and production. A sustainable supply chain and environmentally friendly transport are essential in order to fully live up to the responsibility of human rights and environmental protection.
We support the system change to e‐mobility, combustion engines with hydrogen and fuel cell technology based on hydrogen to deliver innovative solutions to protect the environment and safeguarding the climate.
With our motto “Testing Powertrains to Move the Future”, we see ourselves as a partner in innovation alongside our national and international customers ‐ mainly manufacturers and suppliers from the automotive industry ‐ to shape the future. We continuously analyse the market developments to identify trends at an early stage and support our partners with innovations in the field of testing.
These are the type of questions we work around the clock to find answers to.
At KST, sustainability is based on three structural pillars: economically successful development & testing, environmental protection and social responsibility. As a responsible and successful company, we are equally committed to each.
These include:
KST and all employees are committed to complying with the highest ethical standards and observing national and international laws.
KST expects its business partners to equally adhere to these standards.
We want to strengthen the trust of our customers and business partners in our company by treating each other fairly. Compliance with these rules constitutes the basis for this.
In accordance with the related regulations, we are accredited with various certifications, which are regularly checked and audited. This includes a quality management system certified according to ISO 9001: 2015 by TÜV SÜD. KST is TISAX certified. This is an information protection standard defined by the automotive industry.On April 29th, 2020, KST received the certification of the French rating “accredited R&D service provider”, issued by the French Ministry of Education and Research. With the accreditation for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021, KST is recognized as an innovative research service provider for companies in France.(accredited service providers are required to yearly prove their active work on innovative R&D projects in order to maintain this government certification).
By creating an environmentally friendly identity for our company, we are strengthening our customers’ trust in our performance and capabilities for innovation and wish to further encourage customer and supplier groups to an environmentally conscious behaviour.
KST operates a test field in Bad Dürkheim with the most modern test beds for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and large engines as well as for the development and testing of motor vehicle drive trains.
The range of services include test and development work for the following:
Against the background of volatile markets and the political will to promote alternative drive concepts, KST is intensifying its research and development activities. As a result not only were test capacities for power electronics developed and made available, but also test capacities for hydrogen capability increased and the development of system efficiency test benches driven forward.
Fuel, electricity and hydrogen are key to operating the range of test beds successfully. Fuels for the internal combustion engines are stored in tanks. Operating supplies such as AdBlue, Glysantin etc. as well as oils are obtained through thoroughly monitored channels and stored in appropriate containers. Hazardous substances are stored in type‐approved tanks which comply with the corresponding regulations and are subject to regular monitoring. We obtain electricity from a regional provider and from 2022 green electricity will also be used. Hydrogen is supplied daily by trailer deliveries. KST has a trailer station on the plant’s premises since May 2021. Another trailer station is planned to go into operation from March 2022. A hydrogen storage tank farm is also being planned.
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