First Look At VW’s Mobile EV Charging Robot Concept

Volkswagen Group Components has released a teaser for a concept it says could enable any parking space to become an electric vehicle charging point.

A peeve of electric vehicle owners is being “ICE’d”, referring to an Internal Combustion Engine vehicle parking in an EV charging spot. As electric car uptake accelerates, it will also become increasingly common for owners to find an EV already in a parking spot that doubles as a charging point; just when they want a reasonably quick charge.

Volkswagen Group Components says its solution can help solve these and other electric vehicle charging issues.

The robot is called into action with an app or V2X (vehicle-to-everything) communication. It grabs a 25kWh energy storage unit wagon and autonomously makes its way to the vehicle; using its cameras, laser scanners and ultrasonic sensors to prevent it from bumping into stuff. The robot then connects the storage unit to the vehicle, again using its tech smarts to avoid sticking its robotic arm through the car’s window or providing a new source of work for panel beaters.

The robot wouldn’t hang around while charging was occurring – it could then scoot off to do the same with other vehicles requesting charging. Once the charging service is complete, the robot returns, decouples the vehicle from the storage unit, hooks up the wagon and brings it back to the main charging station for topping up before docking and doing the same.

All this would happen without any sort of human intervention, leaving the vehicle owner to toddle off and do their shopping or whatever. It’s assumed the owner would be able to keep an eye on how charging is progressing with an app.

Robot Will “Spark A Revolution”

Mark Möller, Head of Development at Volkswagen Group Components, seems pretty optimistic about the concept’s prospects.

“It’s a visionary prototype, which can be made into reality quite quickly, if the general conditions are right”, he states.

Mr Möller believes using a mobile robot approach can considerably cut complexity and costs associated with rolling out public-use EV charging infrastructure.

“The mobile charging robot will spark a revolution when it comes to charging in different parking facilities, such as multistorey car parks, parking spaces and underground car parks because we bring the charging infrastructure to the car and not the other way around.”

A proposed date for the commercial launch of the charging robot hasn’t yet been set as there’s a lot more development work needing to be done.

Volkswagen Group Components is an independent business unit under the umbrella of Volkswagen AG. It is responsible for the development and manufacturing of strategic components for the vehicle-producing brands of the Group.

There are all sorts of “buts” and “what ifs” involved with this concept. Folks roaring around car parks, cars parking too close to other vehicles, the cramped nature of many car parks and other factors including the varying locations of charging sockets on EVs will make for some interesting challenges for a robot in real-world conditions.

And is conventional charging infrastructure really more expensive compared to using high-tech robots, a bunch of battery wagons and the central charging station that will be required? The approximate cost of Volkswagen’s system isn’t mentioned, but we reported the other day the City of Port Phillip in Melbourne very recently spent $150k on just two electric vehicle charging points for a car park.

Regardless of the ifs, buts and maybes, it’s an interesting approach.

We already have robots rolling around hospitals here in Australia – albeit with much more limited functionality; so perhaps Volkswagen’s concept isn’t that far-fetched.

On a related note: if you’re considering getting solar panels for your home and then acquiring an electric car down the track, check out SQ’s Homeowner’s Guide To Solar Power And Electric Cars. And if you’re looking for public EV charging stations anywhere in Australia, the Electric Vehicle Council’s EV charger map is a handy tool.