Volkswagen is participating in a new V-Charge project that offers the potential for intelligent autonomous cars to park and charge themselves.
Primarily, the V-Charge project is centred on autonomous parking and charging, allowing drivers to simply arrive at a car park and let their car do the work. For that reason, it has been hailed as a “step up from valet parking.”
By utilising virtual 3D maps, V-Charge allows a car to locate available spaces in a car park and, if it is electric, locate the nearest electric charging space fitted with a charging pod. With the help of cameras, the car is made aware of its positioning and guides itself into an available space. These cameras also detect the presence of other cars and pedestrians, applying the brakes when necessary. As cameras are used to establish location markers, GPS is not needed, meaning the system can work when in an underground car park – not falling victim to signal reliability.
All the driver has to do in this situation is tell the car that they want it to be parked/charged via their smartphone. After an electric car is charged, it will then move away from the electric charging space and into a normal space, making way for another electric vehicle.
One of the coolest features however is that a driver can simply return to the car park and recall their car by the touch of a button on their smartphone. The car will then drive to them and pick them up, eliminating the nuisance of searching for your car in a busy car park.
As The V-Charge project is aimed at keeping costs down, all the sensor and camera technology used is currently available on the market – meaning this technology may soon be hitting the mainstream.
Volkswagen is just one of the big brands participating in the V-Charge project, with Bosch also involved and several Universities. Thanks to Volkswagen offering vehicles like the e-up! city car and e-Golf hatchback, it can appropriately test its vehicles with the new technology.