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The deployment of a network of charging points dense enough to cope with the advent of electric car is one of the major challenges facing governments, particularly that of France. According to the latest figures from barometer common to the Ministry of Energetic transition and in Avere-France, our country has 64,546 charging points. Remember that the government’s initial objective was 100,000 charging points open to the public by the end of 2021 and 700,000 by 2030.
To complete and densify this network, one of the solutions could come from stations mobiles robotic, capable of moving to recharge an electric car when it is parked in a conventional place. In any case, this is the idea carried by EV Safe Charginga young shoot based in Los Angeles (United States), which has developed a mobile robot-charger which moves around car parks to reserve a space and then recharge the car of its “client”.
No need to free the slot after charging is complete
The principle is quite simple: the driver reserves his parking space with a recharge via a application mobile or the infotainment system of its electric car. The robot, nicknamed Ziggy, will take up position on the site in order to reserve it. It releases the passage when the user arrives. The latter scans a QR code to validate the order and only has to plug in the charging socket. Once the “refuel” is done, the owner, or an operator working in the car park, comes to unplug the car so that Ziggy can return to his base.
the robot is equipped with a lithium ion battery capable of delivering 19.2 kWh, a GPS, a camera, a lidar, microphone and speakers. Its rolling cabinet size allows it to weave through aisles and maneuver with a very short turning radius. The company has even planned to integrate screens on the side panels to display advertisements. The first versions of the robot will be piloted remotely by a human operator.
The system has many advantages over a fixed charging point. To begin with, the user no longer has to worry about whether he will find a free space once he arrives on site. Then, he will not need to move his car once the recharge is complete and will therefore be able to take advantage of the parking lot as long as necessary. For car park operators, mobile charging avoids having to dedicate spaces to charging points and to carry out work.
EV Safe Charge plans to bring its Ziggy robot to parking lots, offices, hotels, shopping and entertainment centers and residential properties. If all goes according to plan, production of the robot loader should start in 2023.
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