Parking

Searching for somewhere to park in a busy city can be a long-winded and frustrating experience. Drivers in central London, however, no longer need to do so. A new service called Vallie allows them to hand their car over to be parked for them - and to be returned when requested.

​There's no denying that good-quality bike locks tend to be heavy, plus they're often awkward to carry. While we have seen efforts to make them lighter and less obtrusive, GreyNut has gone a step farther – its Bindio system simply places the lock at a parking spot at the cyclist's destination.​

Tesla's latest over-the-air update has given owners the ability to "summon" their cars from the garage, as well as giving cars the ability to park themselves in the garage.

Scouring a multi-story car-park to find a space can be an unforgiving task. It's not necessary, however, at a new multi-story lot at the Dokk1 community complex in Aarhaus, Denmark. Drivers leave their cars with an automated system, which picks them up and carries them to a space.

London is making strides to improve its cycling infrastructure, but still has a lack of safe storage. Eco Cycle is seeking to remedy this. Its automatic machines whisk users bikes into a circular, vertical rack that is secure and dry. Bikes are returned to their owners with the swipe of a card.

Trying to find a parking space in a city center isn't just frustrating at times, but can also waste time, cost money and result in needless tailpipe emissions. Bosch has revealed a system where sensors at parking spaces are used to inform drivers where they can park.

Car doors can be ungainly when they're being opened, smacking into things like garage walls, light posts, or the body panels of other cars. That's why a group of German high school students has developed a system that stops the door from opening before it can hit anything.

To demonstrate the parking sensor technology of the Fiat 500, marketing agency Leo Burnett designed the Human Parking Aid. Sensors are used to gauge a car's location in relation to parked vehicles and helpers on a video billboard show how much room for maneuver the driver has.

Trying to find a place to park your car in busy areas can be stressful and time-consuming. BMW's new Dynamic Parking Prediction system is aimed at making things a bit easier. The research project uses digital mapping and fleet data to predict where there will be free spaces nearby.

Few driving noises can be as deflating as that of a car wheel scraping against the curb when parking. It means you've misjudged your distance from the sidewalk and inflicted some ugly and potentially expensive damage on your wheel. The SmartRim is a device aimed making this a thing of the past.

BMW has announced a host of new technologies that will be coming to its new 7 Series range. The firm says the tech, which includes driverless parking and gesture control functionalities, will deliver improved lightweight design, driving dynamics, comfort, intelligent connectivity and operation.

Forget heads-up displays, Mini is hoping to bring technology to your car in the form of a pair of connected eyewear. Called Mini Augmented Vision, the smart glasses work sort of like Google Glass and project information in front of you relevant to your drive.