Volkswagen has showcased its 'V-Charge' automated car parking and electric vehicle charging system. The EU research project allows a vehicle to automatically look for an empty parking space, and inductively charge its battery. Once the charging process is finished, it automatically frees up the charging bay for another electric vehicle and looks for a conventional parking space. During the introductory stage, for instance, it was possible to utilise sensor and camera technologies that are already being used in today's production vehicles. A network of sensory devices enables autonomous operation of the V-Charge test vehicle, which is based on a Volkswagen e-Golf. Four wide-angle cameras and two 3D cameras, twelve ultrasound sensors, digital maps and the 'Car2X' technology for the vehicle's communication with the infrastructure ensure that the vehicle's surroundings are reliably detected and recognised. Pedestrians, vehicles and obstacles get identified, parking spaces recognised and measured and then this stream of data is put together in real time to form an overall picture – the task that the technical 'sensory organs' have to fulfil is complex and extremely varied. 'V-Charge' stands for Valet Charge.
Volkswagen have showcased its "V-charge" automated parking system. V-charge, the result of research project with the EU has revealed that the car parks itself in a charging station, tops up on power, and then parks itself in another bay once charging is complete, freeing up the charging space for other users. The system works by using sensors to detect when it senses an electric vehicle approaching from behind or behind, and automatically stops charging.