Specialized in the development and testing of Autonomous and Connected vehicles, CAVWAY is located near Oxford and will be one of the most comprehensive facilities of its kind in the United Kingdom. The facilities are expected to be operative in Q4 2021.
CAVWAY will be the UK’s new automotive proving ground and it is well on its way to becoming a reality thanks to the granting of planning permission. CAVWAY is the result of a consortium between Prova Developments Ltd & IDIADA Automotive Technology (UK) Ltd.
Among the main purposes for these facilities will be the development and testing of Connected & Autonomous Vehicles and other mobility new technologies and is expected to be operational in the last quarter of 2021. Building works have recently started with land movements and the set-up of new paths for granting building machinery access to the site.
The new CAVWAY proving ground will sit partly on the site of the former Oakfield Airfield in Buckinghamshire, halfway between Oxford and Aylesbury. It is expected to occupy a total area of 77ha. and just over 105,000 square metres adding the total number of tracks, loops and intersections planned to be built. The old airfield’s hangar will be preserved to allocate workshops and offices.
CAV development and ADAS validation testing programmes
What makes CAVWAY unique is that it will include a comprehensive set of highway junctions, all within a fully connected, controlled, repeatable and safe environment to perform all required development and validation testing programmes for ADAS and CAV development, according to the latest Euro NCAP and regulation requirements.
A wide variety of testing possibilities for development and validation projects will be possible thanks to fully configurable V2X, C-V2X, 4G / 5G network coverage. At the CAVWAY proving ground, it will be possible to control everything the vehicle “hears” and “sees” in a coordinated way to set up all kinds of tricky edge-case traffic scenarios, facilitating seamless integration between experimental and virtual development work. Additionally, CAVWAY will also offer vehicle simulation and cyber security testing in normal and abnormal conditions, as well as connectivity testing and benchmarking, among other services.
CAVWAY is part of a central UK government initiative by the Centre for Connected & Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV). Overall, the initiative provided £100M of government funding which was match funded by industry to create a network of testing sites across the UK to support the emerging industry for connected & autonomous technology.