Volkswagen charging robot will come straight to your electric car

Self-driving robots could make life easier for electric vehicle owners by coming over and charging up your car on their own. That's the concept Volkswagen introduced in a press release on Thursday. The company says it would launch a mobile charging robot in the future, though it has yet to declare a specific date.

Still, the idea must sound attractive to electric car owners who are tired of waiting in long lines to simply get their vehicle up and running.

A friendly robot at your service — According to Volkswagen, all you would need to do is activate your app, put a request in for a robot, report your charging status, and the robot will come over to wherever your electric car is, towing with a mobile charging unit. Here’s what the process would look like:

The technical features of the entire project sound impressive; it is, after all, an autonomous bot with cameras, laser scanners, and ultrasonic sensors hurrying around with battery unit. But it’s the fact that the robot removes human interaction, trying to find a charging spot, exhausting queues, and tricky sockets from the equation that would make the Volkswagen electronic helper a great option for electric car owners.

Any parking lot is a charging spot — Perhaps most appealing about this Volkswagen project is that it would convert practically any parking lot into a charging spot. It’s that kind of location flexibility that electric car owners could take advantage of. In other words, if you have an electric car, are low on charging and stuck somewhere in a parking lot, a Volkswagen robot can come to you, charge your car, and let you go on about your day.

All in all, it's good news for charging infrastructure. In fact, it might even compel other companies to come up with better battery solutions.