Dec. 29 – Volkswagen has unveiled a prototype of an automatic charging robot for electric vehicles, one of the concepts being developed by the Volkswagen Group to make the charging infrastructure meet the number of electric vehicles it hopes to reach in the coming years.
Specifically, they envision a robot equipped with a DC charging system that can automatically navigate the location of an owner’s car in a parking lot, automatically move the battery pack next to the vehicle, and then connect it to the vehicle before allowing the car to automatically charge while parked in the lot.
In one concept video, a driver pulls into a garage and uses an App to tell a charging robot that their car needs to be refueled. The robot then takes a so-called “mobile energy storage” device, essentially a battery on wheels, drags it to the car, plugs it in and starts charging. The robot can charge other vehicles by repeating this process. Once the vehicle is fully charged, the robot independently collects the mobile battery pack unit and takes it back to a central charging station. All of this is done autonomously, without human intervention, according to Volkswagen.
The concept is a solution to the problem of charging electric vehicles in large residential communities. It means that instead of building charging stations in every parking space in underground garages, owners can simply charge their battery packs and then have these automated robots connect them to their electric cars when needed.
VW says they are currently evaluating the development of bringing the system to market based on this prototype. Further development is underway across the board.
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