Fast Wireless Charging Has Been Developed for Kia Soul EV

Over the past three years, Kia has been working hard on developing a new wireless EV charging technology with a fleet of Soul EVs as test vehicles. In this development, the Korean carmaker is collaborating with Mojo Mobility and the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

The project is capable of fast-charging at over 10 kW with a claimed grid-to-vehicle efficiency of 85 percent. In addition, it doesn’t require the two coils to be perfectly aligned, meaning that the charging process will still run despite slightly misalignment between transmitter and receiver.

Just like the wireless charging for mobile phones, the one for EV works by transmitting energy from charger to vehicle through an electromagnetic field generated from coupled coils. During the process, some of the energy will be gone wasted as it fails to reach the vehicle. This inefficiency is what automakers and research laboratories want to cut as much as they can.

Kia said it’s currently has no plan to release a production version of the new wireless charging system for consumers, although there’s still a possibility that the company will do it in the future.