With Silicon Valley rapidly becoming the new capital of automotive technology and innovation in North America, Ricardo (www.ricardo.com) is further investing in facilities at its Santa Clara Technical Center, enabling the company to support its clients with the latest in electric- and autonomous-vehicle design and development projects.

California — and Silicon Valley in particular — is increasingly attracting automotive manufacturers that are establishing advanced-technology and R&D activities, in addition to many technology start-ups and completely new market entrants from outside the traditional ‘pool’ of automotive development.

The core focus of Ricardo’s enhanced activities is supporting the move from “mechanically biased powertrains — based on traditional fully manual control and fossil-based fuels — to electrified architectures and autonomous-driving capabilities”.

The company’s Santa Clara Technical Center is already a key partner to Californian customers such as Peloton Technology, whose founder and CEO Josh Switkes said: “Improved driver safety is one of the cornerstones of driver-assistive ‘truck platooning’, and Ricardo’s expertise in vehicle safety has been invaluable to Peloton, as we apply the best industry standards to our commercial-grade trucking technology.

"Ricardo’s expanded footprint in Silicon Valley enables us to work together even more effectively.”

Ricardo Inc president Paul Rivera said: “These new facilities will enable us to support our West Coast clients with services from hardware and software testing through to full vehicle development builds for advanced driver assistance and autonomous-vehicle systems.”