Funded by €5.6m from the EU, the V-CHARGE consortium is looking to provide fully automated parking and charging system for electric cars at public car parks.

Under the project, researchers from Germany, Italy, the UK and Switzerland are working on the development of the technology and successful tests took place at Stuttgart airport earlier this year. 

‘The idea is that we can actually use technology to give people a better mix of public and private transport,' said Dr Paul Furgale, scientific project manager for V-CHARGE and deputy director of the autonomous systems lab at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

The smartphone app will enable drivers to leave their car in front of the car park and use a smartphone app to trigger the parking process. The vehicle will connect with the car park’s server and drive itself to the designated space. While in the garage, the car can also be programmed to go to a charging station. Upon returning, the driver uses the same app to summon the car – fully charged and ready to go.

The technology uses a camera-based system and Dr Furgale believes the same technology could be used to develop autonomous parking systems for electric cars on city streets. ‘That will be more of a challenge,' he said. ‘But once you have the maps in place, the rest of the technology will come together.’

The project is set to conclude in 2015, and its results available to be progressively commercialised in the coming years. The functions developed should be cost-effective enough to be integrated into production of electric vehicles. Engineers are working with equipment that is already available today such as ultrasonic sensors and stereo cameras that are used in parking assistance and emergency braking systems.

European Commission vice president Neeelie Kroes said: ‘We need to think ahead and find smarter ways to move, to save time, money and our environment. Who wouldn’t want to save time parking their car?’

‘We need research on new technologies – and how to combine them – to get practical solutions. The V-CHARGE system goes in the right direction and I look forward to using it.’