Coming soon to APCOA parking garage at Stuttgart Airport
- Automated valet parking is the world’s first highly automated driverless
- (SAE Level 4) parking function to be given official approval for commercial use in Germany.
- The highly automated and driverless parking system collects and returns the vehicle completely independently.
- Function available soon for certain S-Class and EQS variants equipped with INTELLIGENT PARK PILOT, initially at P6 parking garage at Stuttgart Airport, Germany.
- APCOA’s P6 parking garage at Stuttgart Airport will be the first in the world to enable commercial use of the driverless parking system.
- Drivers can use the APCOA FLOW digital mobility platform for reservations, contactless entry and exit, and cashless payment.
Stuttgart, Germany – Bosch and Mercedes-Benz have reached an important milestone on the way to automated driving: Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has approved their highly automated parking system for use in the P6 parking garage run by APCOA at Stuttgart Airport. This makes it the world’s first highly automated driverless parking function to SAE Level 4¹ to be officially approved for commercial use. The technological advancement of automated driving plays a key role in the mobility of the future. With the vehicle and infrastructure taking over driving and maneuvering, drivers will be able to turn their attention to other things, instead of time spent looking for a parking space and maneuvering in tight parking garages.
“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,” says Markus Schäfer, member of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, chief technology officer, responsible for development and procurement. “Following the market launch of our DRIVE PILOT Level 3 system, we will soon be offering a Level 4 system for parking with our INTELLIGENT PARK PILOT – all of that this year. We really are showing our customers how technology can make life easier and give back precious time.”
“Driverless parking is a key aspect of automated mobility. The highly automated parking system we developed together with our partner Mercedes-Benz shows just how far we’ve already progressed along this development path. It will be with driverless parking that everyday automated driving will start,” says Dr. 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. 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.”
“We are extremely pleased to have successfully developed a connected system for driverless and contactless parking together with our partners from Bosch, Mercedes-Benz, and Stuttgart Airport. Our digital platform, APCOA FLOW, can be used to book spaces, for contactless access to the parking garage, and for automatic invoicing of the stay in the garage,” says Frank van der Sant, a member of the board of management and chief commercial officer of APCOA PARKING Group. “For our customers, this means a huge gain in convenience: planning certainty, hardly any wasted time, short distances to walk, and a contactless and cashless parking process.”
“We are proud that STR has been chosen as the airport for this global premiere,” says Walter Schoefer, management spokesperson for Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH, which runs Stuttgart Airport. “The project shows how innovative our region is. Automated Valet Parking really enhances our flight passengers’ comfort and convenience and saves them time, especially when they’re in a hurry and just want to drop their car off quickly at the airport.”
“Driverless parking is a key aspect of automated mobility. The highly automated parking system we developed together with our partner Mercedes-Benz shows just how far we’ve already progressed along this development path. It will be with driverless parking that everyday automated driving will start,”says Dr. Markus Heyn, member of the Bosch board of management and chairman of the Mobility Solutions business sector.
