Merced County and GLDPartners have fully unveiled what is emerging as an internationally recognized complex for the automotive industry. Located adjacent to Silicon Valley, the California AutoTech Testing and Development Center (CATDC) is a 300-acre hub where global automotive sector OEMs and technology firms are working on next-generation research and development involving vehicle autonomy, propulsion, safety systems and connected car technologies.
The CATDC is located within the Mid-California International Trade District which is a 2,000 acre multimodal industrial complex that is designed to support 8 million square feet of development and 10,000 jobs onsite. This $3 billion project is focused on investments in key industries which are thriving in California, including automotive technology, medical products, agribusiness and commercial space systems. The project is unique in its location being adjacent to the San Francisco Bay Area, and extremely well-connected by high-speed road and rail to key global gateway seaports and airports in both the Bay Area and Los Angeles. In fact one of the MCITD’s project partners is the Port of Los Angeles, the busiest seaport in North America providing connectivity to points all over the world.
The CATDC is purpose-designed as an asset built to support the rapid pace of innovation in the automotive industry. A range of European, North American and Asian firms are using the shared-use testing and development complex which includes special zones for urban grid testing and high-speed testing, along with special facilities for parking lot and asymmetrical intersections.
Google/Waymo has built a facility on a 91-acre site adjacent to the CATDC where they are conducting their globally recognized AV technology research.
The CATDC is very unique due to:
1) its adjacent proximity to Silicon Valley, which has become perhaps the global autotech hub,
2) its comprehensive size and infrastructure including urban grid and high-speed test environments,
3) that it offers indoor spaces for product development activities, product modification, supplier collaboration, storage – all with high-speed internet access and electric service,
3) the way that autotech companies are involved as project partners through a CATDC Advisory Board,
4) an overall project design that is oriented around supporting the auto industry with a range of testing, product development and site for product manufacturing and assembly.
Several recent press articles describe the project:
WardsAuto Samsung Joins Waymo At Autonomous Testing Site
San Francisco Chronicle Self-Driving Cars Now Roam Across Former California Military Facilities
Silicon Valley Business Journal Exclusive: Merced County is developing a 2,000-acre auto tech center for Silicon Valley’s self-driving cars
Slate.com Waymo built a fake California city to test tricky self-driving scenarios (Video)
The Atlantic Magazine Inside Waymo’s Secret World for Training Self-Driving Cars
GLDPartners is an international investment and advisory firm that specializes in revenue and infrastructure development projects at and around high-opportunity airports, seaports and strategic trade and logistics hubs. The foundation for GLDPartners’ work is its proprietary Market Competitiveness Model which can accurately portray a realistic forward-view of competitiveness. The MCM uses a range of sector business intelligence and produces a forward view of sector growth and development. The Company also advises global companies about supply chain strategy and corporate facility location. GLDPartners is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, with offices in New York, Washington DC and in the UK. www.gldpartners.com
