Volkswagen Group Components has unveiled pictures of the prototypes of its mobile charging robot. This is one of the visionary charging concepts that the German carmaker hopes will expand the charging infrastructure over the next few years. The idea is to have a fully autonomous charger for vehicles in restricted parking areas such as underground car parks.
The vision of the charging robot is that it can communicate with the cars to be charged from opening the charge socket to connecting, charging and decoupling without the need for human involvement. For added efficiency the robot will have several trailers, which are essentially a mobile energy storage units, to charge several vehicles at the same time. The robot can then collect the trailers following charging.
Volkswagen are currently working on a complete DC charging family. The flexible quick-charging station will be launched onto the market in early 2021. For several weeks now, the DC wallbox has been trialled at different company’s German production sites.
The mobile charging robot has successfully reached prototype status and further development will continue. The intention is to integrate the charging robot into an overall concept that will focus on the long-term success of electric mobility, and thus the electrification of transport.
Thomas Schmall, Volkswagen Group Components’ CEO, said: “A ubiquitous charging infrastructure is and remains a key factor in the success of electric mobility. Our charging robot is just one of several approaches, but is undoubtedly one of the most visionary.”
“Setting up an efficient charging infrastructure for the future is a central task that challenges the entire sector. We are developing solutions to help avoid costly stand-alone measures. The mobile charging robot and our flexible quick-charging station are just two of these solutions.”
