The opening of BMW's largest testing facility in the world was celebrated. No, it's a 1,400-acre test site for autonomous driving technology in the Czech city of Sokolov, not a specific test track for future BMW M cars. Local elected officials and Frank Weber, the development board member for the BMW Group, were present for the inauguration ceremony of the so-called Future Mobility Development Center.

The new testing facility is located on what was formerly a mining area, which the German corporation hopes to develop into a technological centre. The site now employs more than 100 competent people, which needed an expenditure of over $330 million (300 million euros). According to BMW, the test location offers ideal circumstances for both simulated and real-world automated driving testing. BMW already has test facilities at Aschheim near Munich, Miramas in France, and Arjeplog in Sweden. The Sokolov facility will join those locations.

"With our new Future Mobility Development Center, we have created a one-of-a-kind test site, designed exclusively for the highly demanding testing of automated driving and parking up to Level 4," Frank Weber said at the occasion. On 600 hectares of land, we test every driving scenario with the greatest flexibility and productivity, including automatic parking, the city, the countryside, and freeways. The unique feature is that we may continuously execute our test modules one after the other.

BMW is especially pleased that the new testing facility was constructed in accordance with the strictest sustainability and environmental protection guidelines. A water management system that gathers rainwater and utilizes it for track irrigation is present at the location, which also uses green power. 

In terms of the business's assisted driving technologies, BMW stated last year that it will collaborate with Here on the creation of a Level 2+ hands-free driving system. This HD Live Map enables driving assistance in the US and Canada. Mercedes-Benz's Level 3 ADAS, which will be an option on the 2024 S-Class and 2024 EQS, has already received permission from California and Nevada.