NaaS Technology has unveiled this self-driving EV charging robot that finds your EV, smart charges it, and takes auto payments.
Self-driving EV charging robot
The orange-and-white automatic self-drive EV charging robot is waterproof and shockproof, and it’s got deep learning, 5G, V2X, simultaneous localization and mapping, and other tech capabilities.
China-based NaaS says the robot can complete the charging and payment process in a single transaction.
EV owners can order the charging robot with a click, then it heads off to find their car. It parks itself precisely, automatically docks into an EV’s charging port using a mechanical arm, charges up, and then undocks. It can then either visit another EV or head back to its own charging dock to juice itself up again.
NaaS says it’s available in various charging power and battery capacity configurations and can connect with major OEMs through an open API.
The EV charging robot currently has the ability to connect with an EV’s system through its underlying API interface. If the EV has insufficient battery power, NaaS says the robot will initiate an automatic vehicle search and head off to find the car to charge it up.
NaaS was the first Chinese EV charging service provider to be listed on Nasdaq (NAAS), and as of the end of December 2022, it’s connected more than 515,000 EV chargers.
Electrek’s Take
There are some key details missing from this announcement, such as what the commercial rollout plan is, when that’s going to happen, where, and how much this robot costs. Is this just a prototype? We also don’t have any specs.
But if it’s going to work as NaaS claims it will, then it’s an awesome invention, and I’d love to see this robot rolling around parking lots in the near future.
The first place of use that popped into my mind when I found this robot was the airport. I’d love to be able to order this robot, Uber-style, to charge my car while I was parked for multiple days at an airport, knowing I was going to return to a full charge. Because right now, it’s pretty rude to just leave your EV plugged into the Level 2 chargers at airports for days, tying it up so others can’t use it. Who uses a Level 2 charger in an airport for just an hour? So it’s a pretty insufficient airport charging situation right now.
This innovative EV charging robot caught my attention because it provides a solution that I need. I really hope it comes to fruition.
Top comment by Dafty
Not really the topic but I'll be the person who chimes in saying airports just need many many L1 outlets. The majority of airport parking stays are at least 2 days or more, so trickle charging a car works just fine.
Let me know what you think of this EV charging robot in the comments below.
Read more: Here’s how many EV chargers the US has – and how many it needs
Photos: NaaS Technologies
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