Nova Montana will have a remote system for software updates

In addition to a variety of virtual simulations, hundreds of mechanics, engineers and pilots take turns day and night in laboratory and track tests at the GM Proving Ground to ensure that the Nova Montana offers all the robustness, safety and technology envisioned by the designers.

One of the development team's focuses at this time is validating the vehicle's innovative connectivity system, which will be capable of receiving remote software updates inherent to the pickup's electronic architecture and native applications to the new multimedia center, which will be born as a instrument panel extension.

The Nova Montana hits the market in 2023 and will debut an unprecedented pickup truck concept for the brand and will also surprise with its intelligent design, as the cabin makes better use of the internal space while the truck bed will bring technologies that provide greater versatility. The pickup will be the next member of Chevrolet's new family of global vehicles, already made up of the current generations of Onix, Onix Plus and Tracker - all references in their respective categories.

The final phase of Nova Montana's development is happening at a fast pace at CPCA, as GM's Cruz Alta Proving Ground is known. It is located in Indaiatuba (SP) and is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere of the planet. It has 17 different types of tracks, including “torture” and “infinite straight”; in addition to seven laboratories, such as vehicle dynamics, electronics and emissions analysis. This entire structure occupies an area equivalent to 1.360 football fields.

“We exceeded 6 million kilometers driven per year among the more than a thousand tests carried out at the GM Proving Ground. With this, in six months it is possible to simulate the wear and tear that a car would suffer if it ran for 15 years in normal traffic conditions - or the equivalent of 240 thousand kilometers”, explains Leandro Couto, director of CPCA.

According to the executive, each test has a specific reason, such as the thermal camera, where the vehicle faces temperatures ranging from -30 ºC to +80 ºC, to ensure that all equipment works in any situation. At the Proving Ground, the car is also subjected to extreme conditions that the consumer may face, including floods and skidding due to slippery roads.

All results are analyzed and developments are applied within the philosophy of continuous product improvement. This work of fine-tuning each of the systems is called “calibration”. At GM, each vehicle configuration usually has a customized setting, to exactly meet the proposal of that version.

All test cars are then scraped. Last year, the Proving Ground recycled almost 300 prototypes and 35 tons of tires, for example. An important fraction of these vehicles leave the vehicle safety laboratory, where impact tests are carried out.