SEOUL: Hate waiting for your EV to recharge? What about driving around trying to find an empty parking space? If so, you're certainly not alone; Hyundai and Kia announced a potential solution to solve both these burdens, and the concept models are already in the works. The teaser video released on Wednesday was followed up with a detailed announcement Thursday.
The clip features an animated driver exiting her car after parking it in front of a mall. Upon stepping out, she checks her phone, which informs her that the car's battery is low. The vehicle then locates an available magnetic induction charging station over-air and prompts the driver with a "charge battery" option on her phone. After tapping this button, the car leaves sans driver to charge and, when it is finished, is located and proceeds to an available parking space.
Hyundai claims that these processes will be possible thanks to "continuous communication between electric vehicle, parking facility, charging system and driver." The parking facility would be required to keep the system updated with the locations of vacant spots, while the charging system could autonomously track charging station availability.
To conclude the video, the driver exits the mall, hails the car with her smartphone, and drives off after it autonomously arrives at her location.
The companies intend to launch this technology when electric vehicles reach level 4 autonomy, which is expected around 2025. Additionally, Hyundai and Kia are planning to commercialise their own autonomous vehicles in 2021 and launch fully autonomous vehicles by 2030.
