A park by wire system engages the

parking pawl A parking pawl is a device fitted to a motor vehicle's automatic transmission that locks up the transmission when the transmission shift lever selector is placed in the Park position. "Park" is the first position of the lever (topmost on a column ...

of a transmission using electrical means. This can also be considered as part of a

shift by wire Shift-by-wire is the system on an automatic transmission in which the transmission modes are engaged/changed in an automobile through electronic controls without any mechanical linkage between the gear shifting lever and the transmission. The tran ...

system whose objective is to put the vehicle in Park, Reverse, Neutral and Drive modes without the traditional mechanical system which involves linkages between the gear shifter and the transmission. The main components of a park by wire system include the driver interface which could be a lever, switch or knob as designed by the OEM (input), an

electronic control unit An electronic control unit (ECU), also known as an electronic control module (ECM), is an embedded system in automotive electronics that controls one or more of the electrical systems or subsystems in a car or other motor vehicle. Modern vehic ...

to host the control system and actuators (one or two motors) which are capable of driving the parking pawl into and out of the locking position with the parking gear of the transmission.

References

{{Vehicle regulations Automotive transmission technologies Vehicle safety technologies

See also

References