{"id":193135,"date":"2019-12-28T11:39:39","date_gmt":"2019-12-28T03:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geek.com\/featured\/-1814940\/"},"modified":"2019-12-28T11:39:39","modified_gmt":"2019-12-28T03:39:39","slug":"volkswagen-dreams-up-robot-that-brings-charger-to-your-parked-ev","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/test\/wordpress\/2019\/12\/28\/volkswagen-dreams-up-robot-that-brings-charger-to-your-parked-ev\/","title":{"rendered":"Volkswagen Dreams Up Robot That Brings Charger to Your Parked EV"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EV sales have really picked up in the last few years, but there are still a few drawbacks that keep them off some car buyers’ shopping lists. One of those is that it’s not always easy to find a charger.<\/p>\n

Volkswagen is working on a solution to that very issue: a robot that brings the charger<\/a> right to your vehicle.<\/p>\n

It’s intended for use in parking structures. Today, EV owners have to hope that there’s a dedicated parking stall available that also has access to a plug. If they’re all occupied, you’re out of luck.<\/p>\n

The VW robot would allow drivers to park the EVs anywhere within its range. If a driver wants to recharge, the robot can be summoned by making a request through a mobile app. Even if the owner forgets, the EV itself could ask to be topped off without human intervention via vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication with the bot.<\/p>\n

The design you see here is an update to one that was first revealed back in 2017. Originally, the mobile charger was a single autonomous unit with built-in battery packs.<\/p>\n

Now Volkswagen has separated the charging system into two units: the robot attendant and portable “battery wagons” with a capacity of about\u00a025 kWh. The change frees up the robot to connect batteries to multiple vehicles at the same time — instead of having to sit around idle while a single EV charges.<\/p>\n

Those vehicles will recharge faster, too. VW’s battery wagons support DC quick charging up to 50kW.<\/p>\n

Volkswagen’s Mark M\u00f6ller sees the autonomous charging system as a real game-changer. “With this, we are making almost every car park electric, without any complex individual infrastructural measures,” he said.<\/p>\n

While the company has yet to start manufacturing the charging robots, M\u00f6ller says that they could quickly become a reality “if the general conditions are right.” Presumably that means if there are enough parking structure owners who think this is a better alternative to installing a bunch of individual charging stations — and enough batteries available<\/a>.<\/p>\n