Ford is trialling a robot charging station for electric vehicles, which could make it easier for mobility-impaired people to charge their cars.
The Michigan-based car manufacturer has demonstrated a prototype system, developed by engineers at Dortmund University, Germany.
It consists of a robotic arm that extends all the way into a electric car’s charging port, operated by the driver via their smartphone from inside the vehicle.
After charging, the arm retracts back into place and the driver can be on their way – without having to ever get out of the car.
The robotic arm extends all the way into a electric car’s charging port, operated by the driver via their smartphone from inside the vehicle
Currently, filling a car with petrol or plugging it into a charging point can be challenging for the mobility-impaired, according to Ford.
Disabled drivers represent 5 per cent of the UK driving population and experience major challenges while getting from one place to another.
‘Ford is committed to ensuring freedom of movement and right now refuelling or charging your vehicle can be a major problem for some drivers,’ said Birger Fricke, research engineer at Ford of Europe.
‘The robot charging station could be an added convenience for some people but – absolutely essential for others.’
Following initial lab testing, Ford researchers are now putting the robot charging station to the test in real-life situations.
The charging station, which could be situated in a car park or a roadside, features a sliding door that conceals the robotic arm.
When the driver parks next to the station, she or he can bring up Ford’s free-to-use FordPass app to open the sliding doors and release the arm.
Once activated, the station cover slides open and the charging arm extends towards the car’s charging port with the help of a tiny camera.

According to Ford, filling a car with petrol or plugging it into a charging point can be challenging for the mobility-impaired
It perfectly slots into the car’s charging point, and the driver just has to wait as it pumps up the car’s charge.
For the trial, drivers were able to monitor the charge status via the FordPass app, which is already available and lets Ford drivers unlock and start a car engine with their smartphone.
Ford said the system has undergone successful trials and is currently not available for purchase.
But if rolled out in the future it could be installed at disabled parking spaces, in car parks or at private homes.
In theory, not just Ford cars would be able to use the system although it would depends on the charging connection used in different markets.
Ultimately, the process could become fully automated, with minimal or no driver involvement, according to Ford.
The driver would simply send an autonomous vehicle to the charging station, to get itself ‘charged up’, before returning home.
This would be part of a future where fully self-driving cars are the norm, although this could be as far away as the 2040s, according to research firm IDTechEx.
Autonomous vehicles are powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that’s trained to detect pedestrians in order to know when to stop and avoid a collision.
But they can only be widely adopted once they can be trusted to drive more safely than human drivers – and this seems to be years away.

Disabled drivers represent 5 per cent of the UK driving population and experience major challenges while getting from one place to another
Autonomous vehicle technology is still learning how to master many of the basics – including recognising dark-skinned faces in the dark.
Several self-driving cars have been involved in nasty accidents – in March 2018, for example, an autonomous Uber vehicle killed a female pedestrian crossing the street in Tempe, Arizona in the US.
The Uber engineer in the vehicle was watching videos on her phone, according to reports at the time.
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