In addition to mileage and charging times, another common challenge of owning an electric vehicle (EV) is the charging process itself. Specifically, if you’re out and about, you’d ideally want to look for specific parking spots that also allow you to charge your EV. Volkswagen has something that can alleviate this to a certain extent. And it comes in the form of a robot.
The Volkswagen EV charging robot is mostly autonomous. It starts up either via an app or through communication with an EV. And once it does, it will automatically pull a battery trailer towards your car and plug it in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk_j1m7ck0c
Engadget reports that it is able to also open the flap on the car on its own. It can also disconnect the battery trailer when the charging process is done. And if another EV needs its services, it simply leaves the battery trailer by your car, and gets another one for the other EV. It even has a pair of robot eyes to make it look more friendly.
While it sounds like a great idea, there’s no word as to when the Volkswagen EV charging robot will be widely available. It also remains to be see if it will be compatible with EVs by other makers.
(Source: Volkswagen / YouTube via Engadget)
