Any form of parking lift can greatly increase the storage capacity of a parking space without increasing the horizontal area of land that a building must reserve for that purpose. These are the different types of car parking lift systems that might choose to implement.
Stackers
Carloft
Carloft systems utilize an arrangement of sturdy chains to lift a car up to the ceiling of an average garage space. What this does is allow for a second car to park underneath the first that has been raised up. The chains are attached to the four corners of a parking platform, while the overall structure is supported by vertical beams that surround the platform and can be placed out of the way near the corners of a garage and between the borders of parking spaces. Electric motors power these parking lot lifts completely, and the amount of lift can be customized to fit your needs, with seven-, eight-, nine-, and ten-foot overhead options available. Vehicles beneath the raised platforms must be moved out of the way for the platforms to be lowered again.
Parklift (SUV-Lift)
Parklifts have the capability of supporting a heavier load than the Carloft because they use hydraulics to raise a car platform up that is attached to two thick vertical beams directly, rather than relying on hanging chains. Since the steel that they are composed of is all hot-dipped and galvanized, the Parklifts can withstand exposure to moisture and can be installed outdoors as well as under the roof of a parking structure. These car parking types are designed for maximum versatility, as they may also be relocated once they are already constructed as well. Vehicles on the ground level do need to drive out from under the upper level for vehicles on top to exit, once again.
Tri/Quad-Lift
The name of these parking lot lifts refers to the number of levels for vehicles that they create in total. Generally, Tri-Lifts and Quad-Lifts are built in connected arrangements to accommodate multiple rows of cars as well, packing a great number of cars in a third or fourth of the space of a regular parking lot. The lifts function through hydraulic power and can carry both smaller automobiles and larger SUVs safely. As with the Carlofts and Parklifts, this system does require that vehicles on lower levels be removed before ones on higher levels can be removed from their spaces.
Carparx
Among the different types of car parking systems is the CARPAX. This system is made to increase parking space by moving a platform below ground and is most often applied in residential settings. Its structure has a box-like frame that utilizes one platform on the bottom and another attached at the top with four support posts connecting the two at each corner. Underneath this frame, there is a scissor lift that can move it up and down, either hiding the lower platform underground or revealing it to the ground level as needed. The scissor lift is shaped like an x that can either flatten down or extend up to perform this task. The VTS-2 variation also combines the scissor lift with hydraulic cylinders to increase its weight-carrying capacity and stability. When retrieving vehicles, if a car is parked on the top and bottom platforms, the top one must move off so that the bottom one can be lifted back up.
Semiautomated
Wöhr Parklift 450
The Wöhr Parklift 450 solves the dilemma of needing to move cars to access ones that are stowed overhead with a pit that is dug underground. It has two hydraulically powered platforms—one on top and one below. Even when both spots are occupied, a person can take out only the car on top as the two platforms are moved downward. The platform that is below the other is sunk into the pit, while the one that was high up is brought to ground level. From there, it can be driven away. The Wöhr Parklift 450 can also be made with wider parking lot lifts that accommodate two adjacent cars on each level for a total capacity of four cars.
Carmatrix
The Carmatrix is a puzzle parking system. This means that it contains multiple rows and levels of platforms that can each move individually with chains, eliminating the need for people who have parked on the bottom to move their cars out of the way. It is called a puzzle parking system because it resembles a children’s slide puzzle where tiles can be rearranged and where one space is always empty to allow for movement. The platforms on these car parking types can move both vertically and horizontally to allow for cars that are parked on higher levels to be brought down when the owner returns. At the same time, other parked cars that are not currently needed can be moved up and out of the way. With this different type of car lift system, each person can drive into a spot to park and later retrieve their vehicles on their own. The Carmatrix system can also be made with a different number of vertical levels and horizontal spaces specifically suited to each building that it is installed in.
Wöhr Combilift
Another puzzle parking system, the Wöhr Combilift has several advantages over more standard versions of the system. It can be built with different vertical heights to fit in a parking building and to allow for vehicles of varying sizes to park in it. It is also entirely reliant on hydraulics rather than chains for movement of its platforms, which makes it faster and much quieter. Moreover, an individual can open and close the safety gate that covers the system and move their vehicle position with a smartphone application.
Automated
Wöhr Parksafe
This automatic parking solution consists of two shelves, one on the left and one on the right. When a car needs to be stored inside, a platform between the two shelves accepts the vehicle than moves it to a space available in either one of the racks; the car can be moved both forward and backward, side to side, or up and down. This setup means that the Parksafe system can be built much higher than any stacker or semiautomated system since a person does not need to accompany their car to the spot it will be stored in.
Wöhr Levelparker
The Wöhr Levelparker consists of a multispace underground structure that can also made with two levels. To the person who is parking, there is only a single simple parking spot in which they place their car. From there, the automobile is moved down by the system into the storage space where the platform that it is on can slide further in to make room for subsequent cars. Two variations of the Levelparker exist. In the 570, cars are shifted in a horizontal rotation. This means that more lateral space is needed for two adjacent row in construction, but the system is less deep in the ground. Conversely, the 590 has one row on each level, and cars are rotated in only one horizontal direction until they reach the end of the row. They are then either lowered or lifted depending on which level they are currently on.
Wöhr Multiparker
Of all the different types of car parking solutions you may choose, the Wöhr Multiparker can have the most varied overall configuration. As with the Levelparker, it moves vehicles below ground into a storage area. However, it possesses a much larger area that can extend more than two floors underground with a greater capacity for vehicles on each floor. It achieves this by moving its platform up and down and in all four main horizontal directions in much the same ways as the Parksafe. The platform has space to move between two shelves and places cars where empty spots are available, but the shelves are beneath the surface rather than built upward.
