There’s nothing that gives an urban driver more headache than having to find parking space in a congested city. Even if you do find a space that is suitable – and I mean just – for your automobile, it would require one to reach far into their reserves of driving skill to park the vehicle the right way.
Say goodbye to these headaches! Renowned German car maker BMW, in a bid to heighten the car rating of its fleet, is in the later stages of developing a car that can be parked without the driver even having to be in the car. From outside the car, christened the BMW 7 Series, the driver can control and navigate the car into and out of tight spots via a new key fob that utilizes a remote control and an LCD screen.
Hold your horses before you whip out your wallet though, the car’s official design as well as the release date have not been finalized as yet according to Gizmodo. The car market however is awash with similar offers from other manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz with its Active Parking Assist though the driver has to be within the car so as to step on the pedals.
This move by BMW is charting a collision course with electric car maker Tesla and this will not be the first time. The latter announced plans of rolling out an update to its self-driving software for its Model S so that those on long odysseys can relax while the car takes over the driving. BMW trod into Tesla territory by releasing – at large scale at that – its electric car; the i3 at just more than half the Tesla’s price. The i3 was even tested with an app that eliminates the human element of a valet but retains the service though this has not yet come to full fruition.
Other companies are set to rewrite car history by bringing this idea of driverless cars to life. Mercedes-Benz and Google are making great strides in this niche with the latter having already patented external airbags and bumpers with an eye on pedestrian safety. The former gave a glimpse of its F015 Luxury in Motion at the Consumer Electronics Show last year.
