Volkswagen to launch mobile charging robot in 2021

In order to reduce the time and money spent on setting up charging stations in dedicated parking spaces or parking lots, Volkswagen is working on a solution that would allow electric vehicles to be charged in any regular parking space - a mobile charging robot. The robot has now moved beyond the concept stage and has produced a test prototype.

This short and fat robot, which looks like R2-D2 in Star Wars, "lives" in a dedicated charging room and can be installed in any corner of a city parking lot.

In order to better serve users, the designer created a friendly anthropomorphic face and LCD eyes for it. When someone calls it, it will open its eyes. At the same time, in order to facilitate work, the robot is also equipped with a small retractable mechanical arm. Next to it is a trailer composed of battery packs, which are charged in the charging room when not in use.

When an EV driver pulls into the parking lot, they can choose any parking spot they like and tell the robot via a smartphone app that they want to charge. The robot wakes up and grabs an available trailer with its arms and brings it to the EV for charging.

While the trailer doesn’t have autonomous driving capabilities, the charging robot is smart enough to guide the trailer around any obstacles and vehicles in the garage. Once it reaches the electric car, the arm inserts the connector into the charging port to charge it, without the need for human intervention.

It’s a very clever solution, and one that doesn’t require a massive transformation of existing parking facilities. Moreover, Volkswagen hinted that this is just the beginning. “We are developing solutions to avoid expensive stand-alone charging facilities,” said Thomas Schall, CEO of Volkswagen Group Components. “Mobile charging robots and flexible fast charging stations are just two of these solutions.”

Volkswagen said the system has been tested in Germany and has successfully entered the prototype stage. At the earliest, the charging robot will be launched in early 2021.