You’ve heard us talk about electric vehicles and self-driving cars. Now you can add robots to the mix. Electrify America and Stable are teaming up to develop the first commercial robotic charging service for self-driving and electric vehicle fleets. The pilot project will take place in San Francisco where Stable is based. Electrify America supplies the chargers, Stable supplies the robotic technology. The plan is to have autonomous vehicles park themselves in a parking space, and then the robot will connect the vehicle to the 150kW DC fast charger ⏤ without human help.
Electrify America’s Director of Infrastructure Planning and Business Development, Wayne Killen says, “Autonomous vehicles will play an important role in the future of driving, particularly with fleets, and tailored charging options for self-driving EVs will be critical to develop that effort”. Stable CEO, Rohan Puri says, “Our models have shown dramatic improvements to fleet utilization and operating cost-per-mile when fleet vehicles are paired with automated infrastructure in strategically chosen locations."
The robotic charging station is expected to start operating early next year. What they learn here could lead to other similar ways to plug-in autonomous EVs.
