By Adrian Justins
Technology can help us manoeuvre and park our cars, and charge the growing number of electric vehicles. The next owners of this contemporary five-bedroom property in the Bayern region of Germany, on the market for €10.4mn, can house 10 vehicles in its underground garage, accessed by a car lift. They might find cause to invest in some of the following gadgets, too.
Indra smart battery charger, from £649 including installation
The Indra Smart PRO EV charger works on different electricity tariffs to optimise power consumption. The driver sets the time when the vehicle needs to be ready via an app, which uses data about the battery capacity and factors such as grid carbon intensity to select the smartest times to charge the vehicle based on monetary and environmental cost. If available, power from a home’s solar panels can be used. The app has a boost mode for a quick charge at the maximum rate of 7.4kW (providing a range of 25-30 miles per hour charged) if the car is needed at short notice.
STKR wall-mounted parking sensor, $29.99
STKR Concepts’ Garage Parking Sensor uses ultrasonic range-finding technology to help a driver park in the exact same place every time and is handy for tight spaces. To calibrate the sensor, which attaches to a vertical surface using Velcro and double-sided tape, or a hook, the car is parked between 6in and 6ft away and a button pressed to memorise the position. Thereafter, when the car approaches, a green light illuminates, which changes to yellow to tell the driver to slow down and finally turns red to indicate they should stop. The device runs off AA batteries or rechargeable USB power.
Spin-It car turntable, £12,600 for a 5m diameter including commissioning and installation
Many drives and garages do not have enough room to allow for a three-point turn. One solution is a turntable that can change the car’s direction by 180 degrees, allowing you to drive away without making a difficult or dangerous reversing manoeuvre into the road.
UK company Spin-It, based in Tamworth, makes indoor and outdoor turntables ranging in diameter from 3.8m-6m. Operated using a remote control or wall switch, the turntable can be programmed to a specific rotation, or, for a showroom effect, set to continually rotate. It plugs into the standard domestic power supply and can be integrated into a smart home system.
Hörmann automatic garage door, from £7,031.52
Hörmann manufactures a range of automatic garage doors including the LPU 42 (pictured in Ruby Red RAL 3003 finish with side design elements), made in Germany and available in the UK from Freelance Entry Solutions. A securely encoded radio system allows the sectional door to be opened and closed automatically using either a handheld transmitter or wall-mounted controller with key, keycode or biometric fingerprint recognition options. Alternatively, an app provides control of the door and can be linked to smart home devices.
The LPU 42 — available in five steel and three timber finishes — is double skinned for thermal efficiency and has a weather-resistant seal. Security features include an anti-lift mechanism, which holds the door in place even if the power fails.
Panda car stacker, €18,000
Car collectors who struggle with parking space might find a solution in the form of a stacker. The steel Panda four-post hydraulic parking lift measures 3.75m by 2.35m. It has a standard load capacity of 2.5 tonnes and an anticorrosive coating, which allows for outdoor use. With a lift speed of 3cm a second, the platform can be operated by remote control or a push-button unit, and it can be configured into a smart home system such as Crestron.
Photography: Luxury Portfolio International
