Feb 10 2020
Volkswagen has made a unique innovation that could potentially change the way electric car owners handle their vehicles. This option is a robot that helps charge electric cars without a need for any added work.
The way this robot, with a distinctly cute look, works is that you use a smartphone app to charge various vehicles in a single parking garage. The robot attaches a mobile battery pack to different cars, then retrieves the pack before it is fully charged.
Right now, the robot and battery pack are in a vision prototype stage. Each pack holds around
25 kWh, and can top off the battery at a 50 kW rate. In a statement, Mark Möller, the head of Development at Volkswagen Group Components, explained what a "visionary prototype" entailed. "It's a visionary prototype, which can be made into reality quite quickly, if the general conditions are right."
While there aren't any finalized dates for this concept to become a reality, the key benefits here are that it could signal an end for dedicated parking spaces with car chargers. Möller also mentioned that this makes nearly every car park around electric-friendly without needing to put in additional infrastructure changes.
A representative of Byers Volkswagen added, "Volkswagen is always at the forefront when it comes to providing unique options for customers, as well as being a trendsetter in the overall car industry. We are happy to provide a full range of Volkswagen options, features, and services for our customer base."