Volkswagen tests mobile car chargers for parking garages
FRANKFURT, Germany (WISH) — Electric car owners will understand this problem: hunting down a charging port in a parking garage.
Automaker Volkswagen says a prototype it’s testing could help. The mobile charging robot is designed to come to a car anywhere in a parking garage so drivers can park where they want.
The prototype also would help motorists if a fixed charging station isn’t available.
Volkswagen says the robot would not require any human interaction. It would drive itself to the vehicle and connect itself. The carmaker hasn’t set a market launch date yet.
Volkswagen said Friday it’s accelerating its move into battery-powered cars, saying it will reach its goal of 1 million electric cars per year two years earlier than planned. European automakers are under pressure to meet lower emissions limits aimed at fighting global warming.
The Wolfsburg-based automaker said its core Volkswagen brand would turn out a million battery-only cars by the end of 2023 instead of 2025, and would reach 1.5 million by the end of 2025.
The company showed off the compact ID.3 at the Frankfurt auto show in September and will start delivering it to customers next summer. It says it can make 330,000 per year at its factory in Zwickau in eastern Germany.
CNN Newsource and The Associated Press contributed to this report.