- Posted on 18 May 2026
- 3-minute read
A new facility for testing vehicle emissions and energy consumption has been approved to help Australian innovators develop new fuels and adapt electric vehicles for local conditions.
The Emissions Test Cell facility features cutting-edge emissions measurement technology, a four-wheel chassis dynamometer that simulates driving conditions in the lab, and portable equipment capable of conducting on-road testing.
It is now the only facility in Australia approved by the Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure to test a specific range of vehicle energy consumption and emissions to global standards under the Australian Design Rules (ADR).
The facility is a partnership between University of Technology Sydney and the Swinburne University of Technology. UTS will host laboratory and on-road testing at its TechLab in Botany, while Swinburne will conduct on-road testing in Melbourne.
“In the past, Australian car manufacturers like Holden, Ford and Toyota had their own facilities for vehicle testing in the lab alongside capability for testing on roads,” said Associate Professor Nic Surawski from the UTS School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
“As local vehicle manufacturing has declined, so has Australia’s capacity to do this kind of testing. As recent global events have shown, we need facilities to help Australian innovators develop new fuels and vehicle technologies.”
We’re now the only place in Australia that can do testing for fuel consumption and emissions measurement of any vehicle – conventional, hybrid or electric.
“We’re also developing the testing of energy consumption from hybrids and electric vehicles,” he said.
Under the Australian Design Rules, the facility have been approved to test for:
- emission control for light and heavy vehicles
- advanced emission control for light vehicles
- energy consumption labelling for light vehicles
- control of real driving emissions for light vehicles.
Swinburne’s Professor Hadi Ghaderi said the broader transport sector was facing increasing pressure from rising operational costs and structural challenges.
Swinburne’s Professor Hadi Ghaderi said decarbonising heavy vehicles remains one of the transport sector’s biggest challenges, with Australia lacking the domestic capability to properly test and certify emerging low- and zero-emission technologies under local conditions.
“Without local testing infrastructure, manufacturers and technology developers are forced to rely on expensive overseas facilities, which slows innovation and the rollout of cleaner freight technologies,” he said.
“The facility will address this gap by providing independent, evidence-based testing of new vehicles, retrofits and alternative fuels under Australian regulatory and environmental conditions.”
“It will play a critical role in supporting industry innovation, informing policy development and accelerating the transition to a lower-emissions freight sector.”
The facility is expected to create new opportunities for Australian fuel companies to test new products and conduct research and development under local conditions.
“Companies that make fuels need to validate their products. Our testing facilities can help them make sure their solutions are workable at scale,” Associate Professor Surawski said.
“We don’t want any air quality and health issues arising from new fuel products on the market. The due diligence we enable is going to help them make things better rather than introduce unexpected problems.”
“We can use these facilities for applied industry research as well as help address more fundamental research questions.”
UTS researcher
Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering & Information Technology