2021 Mercedes S-Class - Automated Valet Parking (WORLD'S FIRST)

Stuttgart airport set to welcome fully automated and driverless parking

Apcoa, Bosch, and Mercedes-Benz are working to provide the world’s first commercial automated valet parking (AVP) service

In the future, a command from a smartphone will tell cars where to park in Stuttgart Airport’s P6 parking garage.
The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class is equipped with the technology to enable driverless, fully automated parking (SAE Level 41).
For AVP, Bosch is using camera-based infrastructure for the first time to detect lanes and obstacles.
The parking garage operator Apcoa is testing barrier and payment functions as the basis for automated valet parking, enabled by its APCOA FLOW digital mobility platform.

Automated parking to drive down the airport stress: Bosch, Mercedes-Benz, and the parking garage operator Apcoa want to introduce driverless and fully automated parking at Stuttgart airport in the future. To this end, the automated valet parking (AVP) system co-developed by Bosch and Mercedes-Benz is to be made ready for commercial operation. The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class is already geared up to accommodate it as the world’s first production vehicle to feature the technology required for future infrastructure-based AVP. As an option, customers can buy the appropriate pre-installation for what the company calls the INTELLIGENT PARK PILOT, which makes the S-Class capable of receiving a smartphone command to drive itself to a reserved parking space. “With the new S-Class, it’s not just driving that’s a luxury, but parking as well,” says Dr. Michael Hafner, head of automated driving at Mercedes-Benz AG. The P6 parking garage at Stuttgart airport will serve as the pilot for the planned commercial automated parking service. Here, the companies will test how the vehicle technology onboard the S-Class interacts with the intelligent Bosch infrastructure and APCOA FLOW, the digital platform provided by the parking garage operator Apcoa. This platform makes the whole parking process ticketless and cashless. “Apcoa, Bosch, Mercedes-Benz, and Stuttgart airport want to work together to make parking fully automatic,” says Christoph Hartung, member of the executive management of Connected Mobility Solutions at Bosch. In the airport parking garage, preparations are currently underway to begin piloting the planned automated valet parking service. The aim of this trial with new S-Class vehicles at Stuttgart airport is to ensure that interactions between the vehicle, infrastructure technology, and parking garage operator run smoothly and are optimized for the customer.

World’s first Level 4 park function in a production vehicle

In July 2019, Bosch and Mercedes-Benz received the world’s first special permit to operate AVP for selected E-Class vehicles without a safety driver in real-life, mixed parking garage traffic at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. Equipped with the appropriate pre-installation for the INTELLIGENT PARK PILOT, the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class is now the first production vehicle to feature AVP technology, which enables it to park without a driver. However, this is conditional on the future availability of parking garages with the appropriate infrastructure, as well as on national legislators giving AVP the green light. This makes the Mercedes-Benz S-Class the world’s first vehicle to feature a pre-installation for an SAE Level 4 automated driving function, the second-highest level of automation. “With automated valet parking, Mercedes-Benz is demonstrating that driverless parking will soon be possible,” Hafner says.

To facilitate this new one-touch parking function, a spacious drop-off and pick-up area will be set up directly behind the entrance to the P6 parking garage, giving AVP users a convenient place to leave their vehicles. As they comfortably make their way to the terminal and check in, their S-Class will park itself in the basement, guided by information from the infrastructure technology. In other words, users no longer need to worry about maneuvering or having to squeeze out of their cars when the space they have finally found proves to be too narrow. “Automated valet parking really enhances our 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”, says Walter Schoefer, management spokesman for Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH. For the test phase that is about to start, P6 will initially have two spaces available for self-parking vehicles. More spaces will be added when driverless parking becomes standard as planned in the future and as demand increases.

[RTSchofield]

This is ideal. Before you get on your flight, activate this, then when you land you'll only have to wait another 4 hours for your car.

[burgerzz]

Me: Parks car automatically.

Also me: follows my car secretly to see if it automatically parked.

[MK-mhlh]

When you come back from your trip to find out it’s still trying to find parking 😳😂

[hristiqng]

With all the best of thoughts to the Mercedes engineers, this is absolutely brilliant! But I will never even think about letting my car drive itself and park.

[aleksandarstaic]

In the village I come from, people had a better system 200 years ago. When they get drunk, they sit on a donkey and fall asleep. The donkey knew the way home and brought the boss home safely without any problems! We have yet to reach that level of technology!

[consumedbyrage]

Yeah, this particular feature in cars I was looking for my whole life. Now I can finally buy a car without worrying about valet parking. Life made so easy!

[jinxfish]

Pray god that phone doesnt die after it parks itself..would be like "dude, wheres my car?"

[crenshaw]

I can imagine waiting there 30 minutes for your car to get over the traffic instead of going to your car in one minute

[luisluciano.]

I can’t wait to be driving behind one of these while it’s going 3 miles per hour in the parking garage.

[assai]

Insurance: who was driving
Me: well, it‘s complicated

[Marduk-]

“Tom why are we still out here? Can we get to your car already?”

“Just wait for it, it’s coming.”

“Tom, it’s been 30 minutes now.”

[fabianlegner]

This is absolutely in my Top 10 of inventions no one ever needs...

[abgnegplt]

Call the car to come.
Wait for 30 mins.
Friends already home.

[chanthibcth]

I pray who ever reads this becomes successful in life...

[pradyumnapriyaranjan]

Seriously MERCEDES - BENZ has taken it's technology to the nxt level... simply amazing 🔥🔥

[GauravKumar-zuct]

Such innovations, even though they look nice, will only make us more "machine-dependent"
And our next generations will find even parking a car themselves a very challenging task!!

[HDmanzano]

The previous gen looked so beautiful. This one is nice but the previous S-Class was absolutely perfect IMO.

[_Arisupdates]

I just bought my first Mercedes this year. Best car I’ve ever owned. Great technology. Love this.

[LakeNonaSports]

I didn’t like this car at first, but it’s growing on me.

[kingmourya]

We do not want to buy a car, but by watching your video, we would have fulfilled our dreams of a car.