Chinese car can drive into parking space like a crab

While some automakers have equipped their vehicles with automatic parking assistance systems that allow drivers to do so completely hands-free, it seems that Chinese automaker IM Motors, part of the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), is developing a completely different new technology.

The company recently shared a short clip on Chinese social media revealing a camouflaged prototype of the electric car in a parking lot. In the video , a girl holding a bouquet of flowers gets out of the car from the passenger seat, then closes the car door. After the door is closed, the car smoothly drives across the parking space.

The car moved sideways into the right parking spot without a single wasted movement (Image: IT-Home).

A closer look reveals that the car did not park itself, but that there was someone behind the wheel. As soon as the door closed, the person turned the steering wheel to the left.

The front wheels had been turned to the left since the girl got out of the car, so it seemed that the driver was turning the steering wheel to control the rear wheels, but in the opposite direction to the front wheels.

The image shows the front wheels rotating forward, while the rear wheels rotate backward, allowing the car to move horizontally into the parking space.

There's not much information about the car being tested in the video yet, but it appears to have a similar shape and size to the company's current L6 electric sedan.

IM Motors' all-electric L6 sedan (Photo: CarNewsChina).

However, the camouflage stickers on the body of the car suggest that this could be a new version, or a completely new model.

The ability to move laterally simplifies parallel parking and reduces the length of the parking space by 11% compared to a non-transverse vehicle. This technology also helps new drivers feel more confident when facing small parking spaces.

With the ability to move sideways, the car has a minimum turning radius of only 4.99m, making it easy to maneuver in narrow spaces.

Side-by-side (crab-style) movement is one of the important advances in the field of automotive technology, pushing the convenience of cars to a new level.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/o-to-xe-may/chiec-o-to-trung-quoc-co-the-chay-ngang-vao-cho-do-nhu-cua-bo-20240822093123824.htm