There are many ways to charge an EV that doesn’t involve plugging it into a heavy connection. People have been working on this technology for a long time, making things like robot arms and wireless pads. Hyundai Motor Group is the latest company to look into EV charging technology that doesn’t require a person. Next week, at the Seoul Mobility Expo, it will show off its new Automatic Charging Robot. With the right EV, the ACR can make charging your Ioniq 6 as easy as pressing a button on the key fob. It has a built-in laser, cameras, AI wheels, and a moving arm. Even though charging an electric car at home or work can be easy, there are always ways to make it easier. WiTricity has been working on wireless EV charging for the past ten years. In a video from 2015, Tesla showed off a metal “snake” that could connect an electric vehicle’s charging cable to itself. Ram is working on inductive charging technology for the electric car it plans to make. This month, Hyundai and Kia will show off the most up-to-date self-charging technology, called ACR, in Seoul. The Automatic Charging Robot is like Tesla’s metal snake in some ways but is brighter. The Hyundai ACR, unlike the snake, has a hand that can handle a lot of plugs. The snake has a one-of-a-kind Tesla connector built into it. This growing compatibility is good even if it usually uses a J1772 or CCS connector. HMG wanted the ACR to work in any environment “regardless of charger position, weather, or other obstacles,” according to the company. The robot is waterproof and dustproof (rated IP65), and it uses a nearby safety pole with a built-in laser sensor to warning it if it comes into contact with a moving or stationary object. The ACR is made to work in a “wow, isn’t that amazing” way. If your electric car can park itself, park it close to where it will charge and use the key fob to tell the charging system to start. The charging port door on the car that the ACR is trying to power up must be able to open itself, and the ACR talks to the vehicle to make this happen. The wheeled ACR then moves up to the car, uses a 3D camera and artificial intelligence to find the charging port, and connects to the port. The robot arm moves out of the way once the EV is charged. This time, Hyundai’s video of the ACR at work is accurate. In July 2022, the company showed a computer-made film that showed what the robot could do. The head of HMG’s Robotics Lab, Dong Jin Hyun, says that the ACR can benefit people with trouble moving around because charging cables are getting thicker and heavier to support high-speed charging. The ACR is now exciting and will be shown at the Seoul Mobility Expo in 2023. Conversely, HMG thought that robots would help charge EVs in the “near future.” When ACR or other technologies make charging more accessible, they will be the next step toward making EVs easier to use and more accessible.
