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Recent Announcement
March 18, 2008 - NCCAR announces the selection
of its Chief Operating Officer (COO), Simon
Cobb, who is being named to lead business and
program development for North Carolina Center
for Automotive Research, the automotive testing
and research facility located in the
northeastern region of North Carolina.
Mr. Cobb stated, “NCCAR
provides an excellent means for transitioning
research and development to real-world product
applications for the automotive industry. I’m
looking forward to joining the management team
and taking a larger role in what is a very
exciting project.”
Update
Progress is underway. In
November 2007, the Northampton County
Commissioners approved an industrial access road
agreement with the North Carolina Department of
Transportation. More recently, project
engineers and architects completed construction
design and are finalizing construction documents
in anticipation of construction bidding in the
next few weeks. Construction at NCCAR is
scheduled to be well underway by June 2008, and
the site is planned to be fully operational by
September 2009.
Background
North Carolina’s Northeast Region is
implementing an aggressive targeted marketing
program that parallels our region’s emergence as
a leader in the U.S. automotive industry. With
the development of the
North Carolina Center
for Automotive Research (NCCAR), under
construction along the Interstate 95 Corridor in
Northampton County, North Carolina’s Northeast
Region will be the location of the premier
automotive research center in the world to meet
the research, testing and development demands of
smaller automobile manufacturers and automotive
suppliers.
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Don Graunstadt, CEO of Lotus
Engineering, Inc., is
pictured above at the podium
at the April 28th,
2006 Groundbreaking of the
North
Carolina Center for
Automotive Research (NCCAR).
Lotus Engineering has
announced that it will
locate a research and
development center at NCCAR
in Northampton County.
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NCCAR will provide comprehensive facilities
including 3.7 mile test track, dynamometer and
emissions testing stations, computer assisted
development tools, and other facilities. As our
nation moves toward a goal of energy
independence, automakers and transportation
technology companies require comprehensive
facilities to support research and development.
While larger automakers own such facilities, the
cost of such research and development facilities
puts them out of reach for smaller automakers
and automotive-related businesses, especially
those entrepreneurial and start-up companies
that are committed to research.
NCCAR will also advance the development of
automotive technologies, fuel efficiency and
alternative fuels and propulsion systems (e.g.,
hybrid, bio-fuels, hydrogen and electric). A
strategic partner in the development of NCCAR is
Lotus Engineering, who is designing the
performance and handling track at the Center
and will launch its own research and development
center. Lotus Engineering will serve as NCCAR’s
primary business development partner.
The shared-use business model of NCCAR’s
facilities and equipment will be the key
marketing niche in the implementation of our
Region’s targeted marketing efforts.
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