WM Motor W6's Self-Parking Tech Is Very Advanced, Not That Useful

Is this one of the world's most sophisticated self-parking features? Probably yes, but owners will have little practical use for it.

By: Dan Mihalascu

Sep 23, 2021 at 12:37pm ET

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The WM Motor W6 (until recently known as the Weltmeister W6) is one of the many battery electric SUVs that have flooded the Chinese market recently.

It’s built by WM Motor, a Shanghai-based automaker specializing in electric vehicles that has the backing of China’s tech giants Baidu and Tencent.

Actually, the W6 mid-size SUV was developed in cooperation with Baidu, and that’s the main reason why we bring it up as this video from Wheelsboy focuses on the W6’s standout feature: the advanced unmanned self-parking tech.

It uses Baidu’s Apollo platform consisting of a Qualcomm 8155 chipset, 5G connectivity, seven cameras, five radars, and 12 ultrasonic sensors. As a result, the Weltmeister W6 is capable of performing self-driving functions in specific scenarios, including when parking.

So how does it work and why is it special? Well, the system first has to be “taught” how to reach a specific parking space. The driver has to select the AVP system via the car’s infotainment screen and then select whether they want to enter a parking space or leave a parking space.

Gallery: WM Motor W6

After that, the user has to press a button to set a starting point, drive the car to the desired parking spot (not more than 100 meters), and press the destination reached button. Multiple paths can be memorized. Having done that, the driver can exit the car and instruct it to park all by itself (or summon it from a parking spot) using a smartphone app.

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Obviously, this is a somewhat useful feature if you constantly use the same parking spot, whether that’s at home or at work. However, as the reviewer points out, the car drives too slow and takes a lot of time to complete maneuvers.

On top of that, when parking at a shopping mall, hotel, or any other parking lot or garage where you don’t have a reserved spot, this feature is obviously overkill. Furthermore, the system has some hiccups where it sometimes hesitates and stops moving for several seconds, although it quickly picks up where it left off.

Overall, it’s likely that only people who want to show off will actually use this self-parking feature. Technically, though, it is impressive, and it will probably lead to a more capable system in the future. Check out the full video for other impressions about the car.