Geely has developed a fully automated, production-ready solution for parking and charging electric cars in parking lots and parkades.
Daughter company Zeekr Power demonstrated the system to a group of international journalists. In the underground parkade of the Geely headquarters in Hangzhou, a metropolis of 11 million people, a Zeekr 007 sedan automatically drove into the parking space. This was done by the new G-Pilot driver assistance system, a direct competitor to BYD’s ‘God’s Eye’ system. G-Pilot is currently capable of up to L3 driving automation.
The car was then charged with more than 300 kW at 800 volts. Integrated into the charging station is a compact robotic arm equipped with a camera on the charging plug. After a few seconds, the robotic arm extended, gripped the high-voltage charging cable from the charging station, and plugged it precisely into the charging slot of the 007 in a single attempt. This requires a motorized charging lid. An LED display running across the front of the Zeekr 007 indicates the charging status and the amount of charging current.
Zeekr Power explained that the system has been extensively tested and works reliably, and is ready for series production. Initially, it is to be installed in a limited number of underground parkades of showrooms of the Geely brands Zeekr and Lynk & Co. Whether the system will be deployed outside China is not yet clear; Zeekr is currently present in Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden.
