Finding a free charging spot in a parking area can be a hassle, but if Volkswagen's new project catches on, you might get the charging position instead.

The company announced on Thursday a design for a mobile driving robot that comes to and charges electric cars on its own. The unit can attach with the car, open the port flap for charging, and plug in without any human interaction. It is fitted with cameras, laser scanners, and ultrasonic sensor, allowing it to move freely around obstacles.

The robot will hold a "mobile energy storage unit" (a large wheel battery with an energy content of roughly 25kWh), jack it into the vehicle, and then scuttle it off to its next mission. The robot will retrieve the battery when the charging is full and take it back to a base charging station.



 Volkswagen envisages the main use of the system in parking garages and underground parking lots. Several of these robots could be used in one parking lot, depending on the size of the parking area. "With this, we render almost every electric car park, without any complex individual infrastructural steps," said Mark Möller, Head of Development at Volkswagen Group Components, in a tweet.