With the aim of eliminating the anxiety that comes with finding a place to park and charge an electric vehicle, Bosch and Volkswagen subsidiary Cariad have begun the testing of an automated valet charging service. The solution is based on Bosch’s automated valet parking system, and guides the vehicle to the parking space, where a robot opens the charging flap and automatically inserts the charging cable, removing it when the battery is fully charged.
Once charged, the car drives back to a regular parking space, freeing up the charge spot for the next EV. The idea is to increase efficiency, with the ability for several vehicles to be recharged and parked without human interaction.
Bosch’s automated valet parking system has been in operation in the P6 parking garage at Stuttgart Airport in Germany for about a year, and is the first driverless SAE Level 4 parking service. Bosch has also started to equip other parking garages throughout Germany with the infrastructure.
“Our two services – automated valet parking and automated valet charging – make the mobility experience much smoother for users,” said Manuel Maier, vice president of the cross-domain Level 4 parking product area at Bosch.
Rolf Dubitzky, head of parking at Cariad, said, “Our collaboration allows us to test the technologies at an early stage of vehicle development, so that the end product is reliable and offers customers the best possible user experience.”
