Emerging Vehicle Technology Development

Advanced driver assistance systems buttons on the interface of a vehicle dashboard

Thought leadership

Evaluating the Benefits of Emerging Automotive Technologies

How can Exponent help you develop the technologies of tomorrow and make them ready for implementation today?

The continual evolution of modern transportation systems and vehicles, combined with increasing regulatory, safety, and environmental requirements, places increased demands on vehicle manufacturers as they balance the development and implementation of innovative technologies with regulatory compliance and sound safety practices.

How can we put our 50+ years of experience in vehicle research, testing, accident investigations, and real-world analysis to work for you?

Exponent's vehicle engineering team actively contributes to the advancement of transportation technology through original research, and that research, together with 50+ years' experience analyzing and testing vehicles, vehicle components, and vehicle systems as well as performing reconstructions of real-world incidents, provides Exponent with the relevant expertise to assist in the development and assessment of future transportation technologies.

Our multidisciplinary approach provides unique insights for stakeholders within the vehicle and transportation industries.

Exponent's multidisciplinary teams assist transportation industry innovators with the analysis, testing, and quantification of the performance of emerging technologies including advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous vehicles (AVs), connected vehicles (V2X), electric vehicles (EVs), and micromobility devices. We provide regulatory compliance guidance and support collaboration and correspondence between our transportation industry clients and federal, state, and local agencies.

Clients benefit from our state-of-the-art Test & Engineering Center (TEC).

Exponent's state-of-the-art Test & Engineering Center (TEC) in Phoenix, Arizona, is equipped to perform the latest regulatory compliance and industry best practice testing. Our vehicle dynamicists, biomechanists, and human factors scientists are experts at the development and performance of incident-specific tests to measure the performance of the human-vehicle system under real-world conditions.

Advances in materials science, power generation and storage, data processing, environmental sensing, and communication enable an increasing array of new transportation technologies, the development of each benefits from Exponent's experience in incident analysis, innovative and broad-ranging testing capabilities, and familiarity with the regulatory landscape.

Capabilities & Services

We lead the industry in the evaluation, testing, and analysis of advanced driver assistance systems, autonomous and connected vehicles, electrical power systems, and emerging driving technologies.

ADAS in vehicles on the road today include forward collision warning (FCW), forward collision mitigation (FCM), automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warning (LDW), and lane keeping assistance (LKA). These and other ADAS technologies are evolving.
Exponent has contributed to the development and understanding of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicle (AV) systems since their introduction by the transportation industry.
Building on over 50 years of experience in the analysis of motor vehicle accidents and related claims and disputes, we have industry-leading capabilities related to ADAS-equipped vehicles involved in collisions.
Our motor vehicle accident reconstructionists, biomechanists, and human factors scientists are supported by the vehicle engineering staff at our Test & Engineering Center (TEC) in Phoenix, Arizona, who develop and perform bespoke tests to quantify ADAS and driver performance under specific incident scenarios.
Exponent has state-of-the-art robotic vehicle controllers as well as programmable AB Dynamics Global Vehicle Target (GVT) and Global Soft Target (GST), and a full suite of Vulnerable Road User (VRU) targets, which are used in non-destructive, repeatable, parametric studies to quantify the performance of ADAS systems under real-world accident conditions.
Exponent performs on-road human-machine interface (HMI) and human factors testing and evaluations of vehicles equipped with ADAS.
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Case study
Challenging Scenarios for Forward Collision Mitigation Systems
How can we quantify the performance of forward collision mitigation systems?
The development of autonomous vehicles and the introduction of these self-driving or driverless vehicles onto public roads requires innovations not only in vehicle system and component design but also innovative methods of identifying hazards and quantifying the risk associated with AV operation.
AV systems include those systems that operate and control the vehicle, those related to the safety of the occupants, and those that connect the AV to other vehicles and to the environment. "Connected vehicles" is a broad description that describes communication between vehicles and their environment. It generally includes vehicle-to-vehicle communication (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, but new applications continue to evolve, such as vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication. V2X can expand the effectiveness of currently emerging safety technologies, such as ADAS and active pedestrian protection.
Exponent's unique teams of qualified experts in vehicle, mechanical, metallurgical, electrical, and computer engineering, biomechanics, human factors, and data science, coupled with our industry-leading analytical, laboratory, and full-scale testing capabilities position us to provide in-depth, data-driven solutions to the challenges confronting manufacturers of AVs.
Examples of the way Exponent consultants have assisted AV manufacturers include the assessment of operating hazards and quantification of risk; the definition of Operational Design Domains (ODDs); system, sub-system, and component Design Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (DFMEA); Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) of driving systems to identify the consequences of single point failures; analysis and testing of the effects of cabin layout, seating positions, and restraint systems on occupant safety in collisions; and the integration of AV systems with other vehicle systems.
The rapid evolution of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) has been driven by innovations in power storage. With these new storage technologies come new challenges.
Exponent's teams of vehicle, mechanical, electrical, and materials engineers support clients with the answers they need in areas of failure analysis, safety design consulting, control system analysis, new technology design support, and full-scale testing of intact and compromised EV battery assemblies.
Exponent has invested heavily in testing capabilities for the full range of components involved in battery testing, from individual cells to full battery packs. This emerging field often requires innovative approaches to testing; to meet these challenges, Exponent has developed specialized test capabilities, including crush, impact and drop; tilt and roll; submersion; coolant leakage; and forced thermal propagation. Insights gained from these tests directly inform our clients toward improving the safety and effectiveness of this emerging technology.
In additional to our state-of-the-art battery testing capabilities, Exponent's multidisciplinary teams have assisted EV manufacturers in the following areas: hazard identification and risk assessment of EV batteries and charging systems; Design Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (DFMEA) of battery manufacturing, assembly, and integration sites; regulatory compliance evaluations of EV batteries, battery protection systems, and charging systems; full-scale testing of the response of EV battery cells, modules, and control and protections systems under normal, fault, and abuse conditions including evaluations of EV systems and components to simulate collision damage and vehicle fires.
- Failure analysis
- Accident reconstruction
- Full-scale testing
- ADAS-equipped vehicle testing
- On-road HMI testing
- Micromobility device performance testing
- EV battery testing
- Regulatory compliance evaluation
- Intellectual property consulting
- Product recall support
- Vehicle & component performance analysis
- Emerging technology development

Capabilities

Our Capabilities Are Unparalleled

With expertise in over 90 disciplines and hundreds of capabilities, tools, and methodologies — we get to the root of even the most complex challenges and give you the objective answers you need.

Computer rendering of a tractor trailer accident. Exponent conducts vehicle accident reconstruction and analysis.

Experts

Our global and comprehensive expertise across industries gives us a deep understanding of current challenges, best industry practices, and the implications of emerging technologies.