- The electric prototype from IM Motors can slide sideways into parking spots.
- Advanced electric motors allow the rear wheels to spin in the opposite direction.
- It’s unclear if the company is close to offering this system on its production models.
For quite some time, car manufacturers have been offering self-parking systems that can steer a vehicle into a parking space without any driver input. However, Chinese car manufacturer IM Motors looks to be developing a new technology that differs from anything that’s available right now.
The company recently took to Chinese social media and shared a brief clip of a camouflaged electric prototype in a parking garage. In the video, a woman carrying a bouquet of flowers steps out of the passenger door and after closing the door, the car smoothly drives sideways and directly into a parking space.
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A closer look reveals the system is not as automated as you may think. There is a human driver behind the wheel of the sedan and shortly after the door is closed, they can be seen steering to the left. As the front wheels were already turned to the left, it seems as though this steering input forced the rear wheels to turn towards the parking space, but in the opposite direction of the front wheels.
When combined with trick electric motors that spin the front wheels forwards and the rear wheels backwards, this allows the sedan to drive sideways into the space. The days of normal parallel parking may be numbered.
Details about the car featured in the intriguing test are limited but it appears similar in shape and size to the brand’s current L6 electric sedan. However, the presence of camouflage across the prototypes hints at it being a new version, or perhaps a completely separate model. There’s also no word on when or if IM Motors plans to offer its simple parking solution to the masses.
H/T to Carnewschina!