As an attempt to solve charging issues faced by electric car owners in parking areas, Volkswagen is working on a charging robot that will automatically drive to electric cars and charge them.
Yes, you read that right. According to Volkswagen, the mobile robot goes to the vehicle, opens the charging socket, connects and disconnects the charging plug with no human interaction.
The robot is equipped with cameras, laser scanners and ultrasonic sensors to make this possible. These sensors help the robot to move around the parking area without hitting obstacles.
The best part of this robot is that it brings a mobile energy storage device – “battery wagon“. The robot attaches the battery wagon to a vehicle and goes forward to charge other electric vehicles. This battery wagon is capable of supplying around 25kWh of energy and offers 50kW DC quick charging.
When the charging is complete, the robot will collect the energy storage device and takes it back to the charging station. Doesn’t that sound impressive?
“The mobile charging robot will spark a revolution when it comes to charging in different parking facilities because we bring the charging infrastructure to the car and not the other way around. With this, we are making almost every car park electric, without any complex individual infrastructural measures”, says Mark Möller, Head of Development at Volkswagen Group Components.
If these robots are implemented properly, they could solve charging issues in many parking areas that lack a proper infrastructure to accommodate electric cars. “Even the well-known problem of a charging station being blocked by another vehicle will no longer exist with our concept. You simply choose any parking space as usual. You can leave the rest to our electronic helper.”, Möller added.
We will have to wait to see these robots as the company has not disclosed the launch timeline of these robots. For now, the charging robot exists as a prototype.
from Beebom https://beebom.com/volkswagens-charging-robot-for-electric-cars/
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