The automotive tower of power?


I’m sure many readers have received the following two photographs by e-mail. It’s been going around for some time, and purports to show a robotic ‘parking garage’ in Germany.

As usual with chain e-mails, the reality is rather different – and, in this case, more interesting.

The facility shown is the Volkswagen Autostadt retail center at Wolfsburg in Germany. There are two towers, each holding up to 400 brand-new vehicles.

Purchasers arrive, complete their documentation, and proceed to a waiting area. A robotic lift system delivers their car to a final clean-up center, and then they’re ceremoniously presented with the keys.

The process is described in the short video clip below. I found it very interesting.

The clip below is much shorter, and is taken from the very top of one of the glass towers. You can look down inside it as a car is lowered. Vertigo-inducing!

As a friend commented via e-mail, the idea might be more difficult to implement in the USA. Hummers and dually pickups won’t fit in those little boxes!

Peter

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