Automatic plug-in

[tama_manu]

So you get home after a long day, forget to plug in, and in the next day you have to run your ICE for all your use. A rare problem for some, perhaps more frequent for the forgetful. Is there a technical solution?

If you park in the same spot every day, I'm sure a clever engineer could design a device that would recognize the car is there and automatically extend the plug to the car. This wouldn't be an option for everyone, but with thousands of cars, who knows?

[Altazi]

I'm sure a clever engineer could design a device that would recognize the car is there and automatically extend the plug to the car.

- Detecting the presence of a car - no problem.

- Detecting the presence of a specific car - a bit trickier, maybe use something like an RFID tag.

- Upon detecting the presence of the car, reminding you to plug it in, either by visual or audible signal - not too hard.

- Having the cord automatically extended - difficult and expensive, especially if you wanted to have the cord automatically plug into the car without human intervention. This runs the risk of being Rube Goldberg-ish.

Anyway, I thought the Volt had a GPS in it. Wouldn't it be easier to include this functionality in the car itself? It would know when it was "home", and it would also know the battery's state of charge. It could remind you itself if it wanted to be plugged in.

Besides, my wife would be sure to ask me if I remembered to plug in the car - for free.

[darthvader420]

This could be where that wireless electricity comes in. The power cord still makes more sense I think but it's an idea.

[Altazi]

This could be where that wireless electricity comes in.

You don't like nuclear power, but you are willing to live in a sea of incredibly strong EM fields that "wireless electricity" would require???