Chinese electric car brand Aiways has registered seven patents in Europe and China for the development of its mobile charging robot.
The device, called CARL, is activated via an app, finds the EV independently and docks automatically without the driver having to be on site.
The patents for CARL cover both the robot design and the loading technology.
The device has been developed for capacities of 30 and 60kWh and should be able to “quickly charge any electric vehicle with a recognised charging standard”.
According to the Shanghai-based Aiways, it takes less than 50 minutes to charge an electric car to 80%.
The company has identified private and corporate customers as well as infrastructure developers and operators as the target group for the charging robot.
Once an electric car is parked in a previously defined service area of the robot and the user orders it via the app, CARL navigates with the help of GPS data, docks in and automatically starts charging the vehicle.
As soon as the charging process is completed, the device locates the next customer vehicle or returns to its base station. The service area can be a public parking lot as well as a home or workplace parking area.
“Instead of drivers trying to find a charger, the charger will find them,” said Alex Klose, deputy chairman of the board of management of Aiways and responsible for international business.
“We want to make EV ownership as simple, easy and enjoyable as possible, and CARL provides a blueprint for how EVs can be charged in the future.”
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