STUTTGART: One day, parked cars will become a hub for innovative services where providers are able to deposit packages, food or clean laundry in the car, thereby usefully combining the parking time with a wide range of services, says Mercedes-Benz.
The future of parking is many-facetted: Parked cars will become a hub for innovative services where providers are able to deposit packages, food or clean laundry in the car, thereby usefully combining the parking time with a wide range of services.
This is the idea behind CHARK.me (
Cha
nge the way you pa
rk
). The project has just commenced as an alpha test with Daimler AG employees in Stuttgart, and an expansion to external customers is planned for next year.
The scheme requires a Mercedes-Benz vehicle with a Mercedes me connect capability (usually from production year 2015 onwards).
The currently available services include the delivery of food and packages to the vehicle’s boot, collection of soiled laundry and delivery of clean laundry, and car washing directly in the carpark.
Driverless parking, which was already introduced in the multi-storey car park at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart in 2017, means more convenience and less stress for customers and more efficient use of the available parking area.
It is expected that from December 2018, automated valet parking will become available to all in the multi-storey car park at the Mercedes-Benz Museum if the vehicle is correspondingly equipped.
Clicking on the corresponding smartphone app will start the car without further human action and manoeuvre it into a free space when its driver has already left the car park. The same happens in reverse. The app is used to order the vehicle just before the intended departure time.
Driverless parking is made possible by an intelligent multi-storey car park infrastructure from Bosch in conjunction with the vehicle technology from Mercedes-Benz. Sensors installed in the car park monitor the driving corridor and its surroundings and steer the vehicle. The technology on board the car performs safe driving manoeuvres in response to the commands from the car park infrastructure, and stops the vehicle in good time when necessary.
Another alternative to conventional parking was indicated by the smart vision EQ fortwo concept car (premiered at the 2017 International Motor Show IAA): This fully automated share taxi collects its passengers directly from the appointed location, takes them to their destination and leaves for its next mobility assignment. -Pix by Bloomberg
Keyword: Mercedes-Benz envisions the future of parking