Modern technology has brought many ways to aid drivers in parking from cameras to beeps to collision sensors, but the German automaker has upped the ante with VW automated parking system. Last Friday, they announced to start test runs for the technology in the Hamburg Airport parking lot.
This new technology will reduce driver’s stress that comes with parking in confined or busy places. Using the VW technology, the driver shall exit the vehicle and the system will do the parking. This means, valets won’t be needed for parking. The driver shall simply book a parking spot in the airport using a special app and leave the vehicle at the parking entrance. The vehicle will drive itself and search for an empty parking space, and if the vehicle is a plug-in hybrid or an all-electric, the system will search for a charging station. Similar technologies were also advertised by Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz last year.
Pictorial markers shall guide the vehicle’s self-driving function to an empty parking spot and help with parking. When the driver returns near the parking garage, the app will send a message to the vehicle and it will make its way back to the driver. The toll is paid via the app, so there is no queue at the exit.
VW hopes that their technology will be successful, and they will be able to introduce the VW automated parking system in vehicles from 2020 followed by a self-driving car in 2021.