Volvo V40 Parking Pilot: How It Works

Volvo launched the V40 Cross Country off road crossover in India yesterday. One among the dozens of standard features offered with the Cross Country is Volvo's Parking Pilot. It is a convenience feature that takes the trouble out of parking in tight spaces, by doing it for you.

Here is how Volvo's Parking Pilot feature works. As you slowly drive past a line of parked cars, the system employs its ultrasonic sensors to detect a suitable gap, (a gap that is 1.2 times the car's length). The next step is to put the car in reverse and take control of the throttle.

The system steers the car automatically and positions itself inside the gap perfectly. The trick is to maintain a low speed. Below are two videos from Volvo in which Parking Pilot is demonstrated. The third is a more interesting one from Fifth Gear where Tiff Needell and company test their parking skills against Volvo's automatic parking system.