As part of our AutoTech Check series covering the latest and greatest ADAS technologies, we’ve experienced a number of parking assist systems from Level 2 to Level 4. The vast majority rely on onboard sensors and AI to find parking spaces and navigate the car into them.
These systems start with the most basic feature that merely helps steer the car while the driver shifts gears, accelerates and brakes. 2022 models with this feature include the Cadillac CT5-V, Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Escape and Fiesta, Mercedes C-Class and GLE, Toyota Prius Prime, Volkswagen Golf and Volvo XC60.
More advanced Level 3 systems respond to the push of a dedicated Park button by handling everything from searching for an open spot to providing hands-off control of the vehicle while it parks itself. Current models with this feature include BMW 5 Series, Cadillac XT4, Hyundai Tucson, Mercedes AMG Premium and Nissan Leaf.
Several Level 4 systems provide fully automated valet parking with the tap of an app button after the driver exits the vehicle. This feature is available on a few 2022 models including the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Kia EV6, Lincoln Corsair and Tesla Model 3. It’s coming soon on the Mercedes S-Class and EQS, but only in certain parking garages equipped with Bosch sensor systems.
One big difference in the Mercedes Level 4 system for parking garages compared to other brands is the need for infrastructure: Bosch sensors are mounted in the ceiling all through the garage to sense vehicles, pedestrians and open spaces. The system provides remote parking and vehicle retrieval using the APCOA Flow digital mobility app for reservations, contactless entry and exit, and cashless payments.
The German government has approved Mercedes’ Intelligent Park Pilot system for commercial use in the P6 parking garage at the Stuttgart airport – the first such service in the world, according to Mercedes.
Mercedes chief technology officer Markus Schäfer says, “The world’s first approval for customer use of our highly automated and driverless parking function, developed together with our technology partner Bosch, shows that innovation leadership and ‘Made in Germany’ go hand in hand.”
The company plans to roll out more infrastructure-based systems over the next several years according to Markus Heyn, member of the Bosch board of management and chairman of the Mobility Solutions business sector. “From the outset, Bosch has taken the approach of making the infrastructure in parking garages intelligent,” he says. “Accordingly, we have set standards in this area. In the future, our aim is to equip more and more parking garages with the necessary infrastructure technology. We plan to do several hundred of them worldwide in the next few years.”
The Takeaway
Mercedes and Bosch are working closely on systems for ADAS and autonomous vehicles. So, it makes sense Mercedes would partner with Bosch to use their external sensors as part of a business agreement to promote Bosch sensors and systems.
However, this seems like an expensive and cumbersome path that will limit adoption due to the time and expense of installing potentially hundreds of Bosch sensors and systems and providing power to each of them. Also, installations in “several hundred” parking garages in a few years hardly sounds like a scalable solution, especially for end users.
Given the choice between a car that can only park itself in a few hundred garages equipped with the specific infrastructure needed vs. a car that can park itself in many more situations, the choice would seem to be clear.
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