BMW and Valeo are partnering on a project to create a Level 4 automated parking system. They imagine the system as letting someone drop their vehicle off at a car park and leaving the automobile while the technology manoeuvres the car to a free spot. The models on the German automaker's Neue Klasse dedicated EV platform will be the first to get this tech.
The automated parking system already available in the BMW iX is the basis for this future capability. BMW and Valeo plan to build on it using jointly developed algorithms.
"Building on already commercialized stack components, this cooperation will leverage our know-how and technologies, such as advanced AI-based computer vision algorithms, and enable us to extend our portfolio to L4 functions as well as into cloud services. Other automakers will be able to join this platform, with BMW once again setting the standard for the most intuitive and pleasant user experience that its customers rightly expect," said Marc Vrecko, President of Valeo’s Comfort and Driving Assistance Systems Business Group.
BMW and Valeo will develop two types of systems to make the automated parking tech work. The vehicle will need the necessary sensors and computing power to drive itself without a human behind the wheel or even in the cabin. In addition, there would be elements embedded in the infrastructure that could communicate with the car. For example, the companies imagine being able to charge an EV or even put it through a car wash.
The BMW i Vision Dee concept's debut at CES 2023 provided the first glimpse of a vehicle riding on the Neue Klasse architecture. The first production vehicle to ride on these underpinnings arrives in 2025. A sedan and SUV would be the initial models to hit the market. The automaker is investing around $866 million into the factory in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, to assemble these EVs there starting in 2027.
The Neue Klasse architecture can support outputs ranging from 268 bhp (200 kilowatts) up to 1,341 bhp (1,000 kW) by using four electric motors. The batteries can be from 75 kilowatt hours to 150 kWh, which should provide a range as far as 621 miles (1,000 kilometres).
For more discussion about i Vision Dee, check out this episode of Rambling About Cars:
