By Gerd Bahnmüller, DVN Senior Adviser
The EDAG Group, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, is an independent engineering services provider. Drawing on more than 50 years’ experience, EDAG’s proprietary 360-degree development approach has become a hallmark of quality in the holistic development of vehicles and smart factories. With an interdisciplinary team of around 8,900 experts, and a global network of some 70 branches, EDAG develop mobility and industrial solutions for customers including the world’s leading automotive and non-automotive companies.
EDAG are renowned for their ability to provide integrated services across the whole vehicle development gamut. This includes vehicle design, engineering, prototyping, and production support. They excel in offering solutions that cover all technical aspects of automotive development, such as body engineering, interior and exterior design, electrification, and safety systems. EDAG’s expertise also extends to digitalization, where they support the transition towards more efficient, automated, and connected production systems in automotive manufacturing.
EDAG have been at the forefront of innovations in lightweight construction and multi-material designs, helping manufacturers meet increasing demands and requirements for fuel efficiency and emissions reduction. Their proficiency in EV technology and battery systems development places them centrally in the shift toward sustainable mobility.
Vehicle lighting technology
With this extensive expertise in the automotive sector, it was a logical step for EDAG to expand their lighting activities. Since 2022, their lighting technology team has grown from 20 to over 70 employees, based at various locations, so customers can be optimally supported. Customers are mainly automakers and tier-1s, but EDAG are working toward supporting lighting tier-2s; EDAG Body Engineering VP Michael Küpper says there is a demand in that sector for those services.
At the Warmenau site near Wolfsburg, a modern 25-metre light tunnel has been set up with the latest goniometer from LMT. All the necessary measuring equipment is on hand, including high-precision photocells and CCD cameras. The new goniometer makes it easy to handle and measure large components such as illuminated front and rear panels, even if they are 2 m wide.
EDAG’s lighting services include the full range of those outlined in the V-model shown here. The company are engaged in collaborative projects with automakers and tier-1s at the early stages of vehicle development, focusing on the design and functionality of lighting systems and components. EDAG’s product development team handle component ownership, offering specialized development services to support automakers and tier-1s in design, simulation, and electronic and software development. Their comprehensive validation portfolio is enhanced by test facilities conducting environmental, EMC, electrical, and system and function testing—all in-house.
Next to the light tunnel there is an innovative driving simulator specially designed to allow the cabin, mounted on an air cushion, to be moved forward, backward, left, and right by 5 m. This allows the simulator ‘driver’ to experience acceleration and deceleration as well as lateral forces, creating an almost realistic driving experience in the simulator. EDAG plan to use this facility in the future to optimize and validate vehicle lamps, and to optimize light distributions without physical prototypes—instead using virtual night drives in the Zero-Prototype Lab.
With all these tasks and projects, the team will surely continue to grow, and we will see many more interesting contributions from EDAG in the future. The company does not have to worry about new talent, as students can also be involved, for example through term papers and bachelor’s or master’s theses. This way, interesting topics can be examined, researched and further developed outside of commercial orders, which are more project- and vehicle-related.
In conjunction with the grand opening of the new light tunnel, EDAG invited partners to show how well connected EDAG are to leading companies in measurement systems (LMT), laser graining for optical systems in tooling (Reichle Technologiezentrum), optical simulation (Ansys)—and vehicle lighting information and analysis (DVN).
All in all, EDAG are an impressive, dynamic outfit, offering top-class engineering services to support the world’s vehicle and component manufacturers. Their comprehensive service portfolio, cutting-edge innovations, and deep involvement in next-generation automotive technologies position them at the front of the industry’s evolution toward more sustainable, connected, and intelligent mobility solutions. The company’s focus on lighting, in particular, highlights their commitment to enhancing both safety and design in the vehicles of the future.
