Also called: Winter Test Engineer, Cold Climate Test Engineer
Spends winters at frozen test tracks in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Alaska, proving cars start, steer and stop at 30 below.
At 5 a.m. at minus 25°F, you try to start a prototype that sat outside all night, logging battery and engine data. Then you drive it on frozen lakes and snowy hills, testing traction control and how fast the heater clears the windshield. Evenings are for data and swapping parts.
Winter trips add per diem.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in mechanical or electrical engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Automotive Engineering.
Growing about average. EV batteries make cold testing more important.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Simulation and AI cut some test miles, but real cold-weather testing and judgment on the track stay human.
Classes: Physics, AP Calculus, Auto shop, Computer programming.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.