SF Motors Takes The SF5 To The Extreme In New Zealand Cold Weather Testing

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By Kyle Field

The team at SF Motors* (SFM) recently headed south of the equator with its fully electric SF5 crossover for cold weather development, as part of its goal to reach 5,000,000 kilometers of road testing prior to production. The company was specifically working to tune powertrain and traction control systems in some of New Zealand’s most challenging terrain.

Located just outside of Wanaka, New Zealand, the Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds features numerous test tracks designed to test the handling and performance of new vehicles in a range of extreme winter weather conditions. The SFM team used the mountainous courses to validate its design and fine-tune the traction control and powertrain systems in snowy road conditions.

The cold weather handling tests are critical to ensuring the vehicle is ready for mass production as the team balances power, traction, and braking for optimal performance, durability, and safety. Coming out of the testing and leading up to the official launch of the SF5 next year, the teams will continue to analyze the data gathered during testing and use it to make additional refinements to the onboard systems.

SFM unveiled its first two vehicles, the SF5 and SF7, back in March of this year at its headquarters in Silicon Valley, where CleanTechnica was in attendance to examine the vehicles in the flesh and metal. The two vehicles are built to maximize the design flexibility offered by electric batteries and motors and can be configured with a variety of ranges and two or four motors, depending on the application.

The SF Motors SF5 crossover is slated for launch in 2019 while the flagship SF7 is planned for 2020.

SF Motors is creating intelligent electric vehicles with the latest technology from Silicon Valley, combined with manufacturing facilities in the US and China. SF Motors fuses intelligent technology with human-centered design to provide greater safety, comfort, and convenience for drivers and passengers. The company is committed to accelerating, empowering, and uniting the EV industry by sharing its electric and intelligent technologies with local and global partners. The company is headquartered in California with domestic and international operations. For more information, visit the SF Motors website.

*This article was sponsored by SF Motors; images courtesy SF Motors


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