BMW, in cooperation with the French automotive supplier Valeo, intends to offer fully automated Level 4 parking from 2026. In contrast to previous Type 2 offers, BMW is developing Type 1, which does not require any special infrastructure in the car park. The sensors in the car handle the process itself.
With fully automated parking according to level 4 according to the ISO standard 23374, a distinction is made between type 1 and type 2. Current offers such as Automated Valet Parking (AVP) from Mercedes-Benz and Bosch, which received approval for series operation from the Federal Motor Transport Authority at the end of last year, correspond to type 2 because a lot of sensors have to be installed in the parking garage as well communicates with the vehicle and guides it unerringly to the parking space and back again. BMW is also already running this variant in series production, for example specifically for the 7 Series at the Dingolfing plant.
No sensors required in the car park
In everyday customer use, however, automated valet parking should also be type 1, so that multi-storey car parks and similar buildings do not have to be converted at great expense. Instead, the fully automated parking process is completely calculated by the vehicle itself. What the car from the parking garage requires is only a drop-off and pick-up zone where the customer returns the car or gets back in, as well as map data for the infrastructure. This data can come from the operator or a service provider, but according to BMW, this information can also be collected by the vehicles and shared with the entire fleet via the cloud backend.
Differences between Type 1 and Type 2 on the AVP (Image: BMW)Premiere in the new class
An automated valet parking offer is expected to be available in 2026 Art be available, the company said in a preliminary discussion on today's announcement. The implementation will be available for the first time in the new class, the first vehicles of which are to be launched on the market from 2025 according to previous planning by BMW.
No subscription model planned
The fact that the service will be offered a little later than the first New Class cars also means that the required hardware will already be on board, meaning that the function will ultimately move into the car via new software. However, the company rejected a subscription model when asked, instead it would be a so-called “Function on Demand” unless ordered ex works. Means: The hardware is already installed, the function itself can be activated afterwards with a one-off payment.
BMW x Valeo for over 30 years< /h2>
Although the focus is on Type 1, the partnership between BMW and Valeo also includes support for Type 2. In January, the two companies signed a strategic cooperation agreement focused on the joint development of next-generation parking functions. In addition to public parking spaces, the assistance system should also be able to be used on private property. The cooperation between BMW and Valeo goes back a long way: In 1991, the world's first Park Distance Control with ultrasound was used in the 7 Series.
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