NORTHBROOK, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 16, 2025--
UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE: ULS), a global leader in applied safety science, today announced plans to develop a new advanced automotive electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) laboratory in Toyota City, Japan, to provide testing to help manufacturers protect against electromagnetic interference that can cause critical systems in vehicles, like braking and engine control, to malfunction.
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Today’s vehicles are equipped with more complex electronic components and faster processing speeds, which can lead to increased electromagnetic interference. EMC testing measures performance and reliability levels and helps manufacturers demonstrate adherence to global standards, enable legal market entry worldwide, and safeguard against malfunctions caused by interference. Demand for automotive EMC testing is expected to continue to expand and, as a top automotive manufacturing hub, Japan is a key market.
“Expanding our operations in Japan enhances our capacity and ability to deliver innovative science-based, independent EMC services,” said Jennifer Scanlon, president and CEO of UL Solutions. “Our new facility is strategically positioned to support both the domestic market and the growing demands of international exports.”
The facility, formally known as the UL Solutions Automotive Technology and Innovation Center, is expected to open during the second half of 2026, and will be developed in Japan’s Tokai region, a center for the automotive industry and a key customer base. It is expected to be one of the few EMC laboratories in Japan equipped to conduct high-voltage, high-current and high-torque testing, which can help simulate real-world operating conditions for various electronic devices and systems.
The development of the new testing laboratory by UL Solutions aligns strategically with Japan’s leadership in the global automotive sector. With 2023 production at around 9 million vehicles, Japan ranks as the third largest vehicle manufacturer globally. 1 This development coincides with the rising automotive EMC testing market, which, according to Market Research Guru, was valued at an estimated $1.7 billion in 2023 and projected to reach $2.7 billion by 2030. 2 The new facility will help address this increasing demand for advanced testing capabilities to help manufacturers demonstrate compliance with evolving automotive standards and technological innovations.
The planned 25,000 square-foot facility is expected to feature extremely high-voltage chambers capable of handling a maximum of 25,000 RPM, over 3,500 torque and a power supply delivering up to 1,500 volts and 1,000 amp. High-voltage, high-current and high-torque testing can help simulate real-world operating conditions for various electronic devices and systems.
“Japan stands as a pillar of the global automotive industry,” said Weifang Zhou, executive vice president and president of Testing, Inspection and Certification, UL Solutions. “The development of our advanced EMC testing laboratory in Japan further elevates our world-class testing capabilities, serving both the automotive industry and its suppliers. This strategic investment is expected to help solidify our comprehensive support for customers, helping them to confidently plan and execute successful vehicle market launches.”
The planned advanced automotive EMC laboratory in Toyota City will complement existing UL Solutions automotive EMC testing laboratories in Japan, including the Automotive Technology Center in Miyoshi City. It will also become part of a broader network of UL Solutions facilities staffed by knowledgeable EMC experts. These facilities are located in key automotive hubs in Asia and around the world, including India, Italy, South Korea, Taiwan, the U.K. and the U.S.
About UL Solutions
A global leader in applied safety science, UL Solutions (NYSE: ULS) transforms safety, security and sustainability challenges into opportunities for customers in more than 110 countries. UL Solutions delivers testing, inspection and certification services, together with software products and advisory offerings, that support our customers’ product innovation and business growth. The UL Mark serves as a recognized symbol of trust in our customers’ products and reflects an unwavering commitment to advancing our safety mission. We help our customers innovate, launch new products and services, navigate global markets and complex supply chains, and grow sustainably and responsibly into the future. Our science is your advantage.
1 Motor vehicle production volume worldwide in 2023, by country, Statista
2Global Automotive EMC Testing Market 2024 by Company, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2030, Market Research Guru, Jan. 2024
Certain statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include, among other things, statements regarding the planned construction and opening of a new laboratory. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results or performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements made in this press release, including the risk of unexpected delays or impediments to completing construction of the planned facility, including finalizing any necessary land lease arrangements for the planned facility, and the risks discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as other factors described from time to time in our filings with the SEC. Such forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this press release. We do not undertake or assume any obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information or future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by law.
Source Code: ULS-IR
UL Solutions plans to establish a state-of-the-art automotive electromagnetic compatibility testing laboratory in the Tokai region, co-located with Japan’s major automotive companies.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, saying it was striking Hamas targets in its heaviest assault in the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in ongoing talks to extend the ceasefire. It was not immediately clear if the operation was a one-time pressure tactic or if the 17-month-old war was being resumed altogether.
“This comes after Hamas repeatedly refused to release our hostages and rejected all offers it received from the U.S. presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators,” Netanyahu's office said.
Taher Nunu, a Hamas official, criticized the Israeli attacks. “The international community faces a moral test: either it allows the return of the crimes committed by the occupation army or it enforces a commitment to ending the aggression and war against innocent people in Gaza,” he said.
In Gaza, explosions could be heard at various locations and ambulances were arriving at Al Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza.
The strikes came two months after a ceasefire was reached to pause the war. Over six weeks, Hamas released roughly three dozen hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
But since the first phase of the ceasefire ended two weeks ago, the sides have not been able to agree on a way forward with a second phase aimed at releasing the nearly 60 remaining hostages and ending the war altogether. Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to resume the war, and early this month cut off the entry of all food and aid deliveries into the besieged territory to put pressure on Hamas.
The war erupted with Hamas' Oct 7, 2023, cross-border attack, which killed some 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel responded with a military offensive that killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza's population. The territory's Health Ministry doesn't differentiate between civilians and militants, but says over half of the dead have been women and children.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu's office said.
The ceasefire had brought some relief to Gaza and allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to resume to what remained of their homes.
But the territory is coping with vast destruction, with no immediate plans to rebuild. A resumption of the war threatens to reverse any progress made in recent weeks toward halting Gaza's humanitarian crisis.
While the ceasefire largely halted the fighting, Israel has left troops in Gaza throughout the past two months and continued to strike targets, claiming that Palestinians were trying to carry out attacks or approaching troops in no-go zones.
A number of strikes earlier Monday killed a total of 10 people, according to Palestinian officials.
Two strikes in central Gaza hit around the urban refugee camp of Bureij. One struck a school serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians, killing a 52-year-old man and his 16-year-old nephew, according to officials at nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken. The Israeli military said it struck militants planting explosives.
An earlier strike killed three men in Bureij. The Israeli military said the men were trying to plant an explosive device in the ground near Israeli troops. Gaza’s Hamas-led government said the men were collecting firewood.
In Syria, meanwhile, Israel seized a zone in the south after the fall of longtime autocrat Bashar Assad in December. Israel says it is a preemptive security measure against the former Islamist insurgents who now run Syria, though their transitional government has not expressed threats against Israel.
Strikes in the southern Syrian city of Daraa killed three people and wounded 19 others, including four children, a woman and three civil defense volunteers, the Syrian civil defense agency said. It said two ambulances were damaged. Other strikes hit military positions near the city.
The Israeli military said it was targeting military command centers and sites in southern Syria that contained weapons and vehicles belonging to Assad’s forces. It said the materials’ presence posed a threat to Israel.
In Lebanon, Israel said it struck two members of the Hezbollah militant group in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor, who it said were “observation operatives.” Lebanon’s state news agency reported two people killed in the strike and two wounded.
The military later said it carried out further strikes on Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, without specifying where. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect in late November ending the 14-month war between the two sides, and each side has repeatedly accused the other of violating the deal.
Since the ceasefire in Gaza began in mid-January, Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians who the military says approached its troops or entered unauthorized areas.
Still, the deal has tenuously held without an outbreak of wide violence. The ceasefire’s first phase saw an exchange of some hostages held by Hamas in return for the freeing of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate the next steps in the ceasefire.
Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas instead wants to follow the ceasefire deal reached by the two sides, which calls for negotiations to begin on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, in which the remaining hostages would be released and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza. Hamas is believed to have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others.
AP reporter Ghaith Alsayed in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report.
Palestinians Ali Marouf cook on fire on the roof of his destroyed house by the Israeli army's air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Members of Palestinian Marouf family cook outside their destroyed house by the Israeli army's air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Members of Palestinian Marouf family cook outside their destroyed house by the Israeli army's air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Members of Palestinian Marouf family cook outside their destroyed house by the Israeli army's air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians Ali Marouf and his mother Aisha cook on fire on the roof of their destroyed house by the Israeli army's air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
