Genesis, a luxury brand and subsidiary of Hyundai, released the first ever commercially available EV to feature wireless vehicle charging from the factory in the Genesis GV60 featuring technology developed by WiTricity. Genesis will no longer be offering this feature or continuing to develop wireless vehicle charging in general. This is due to the cost of building chargers and vehicle efficiency. The high cost of wireless vehicle chargers has led to no chargers being installed in general shopping malls or accommodation facilities across South Korea, the only country where the GV60 was available with wireless charging. The Genesis Wireless Charger is also unable to compete with fast charging technologies, as it is limited to 11 kW, compared to the 50 kW plus speeds of DC fast chargers.
This is no doubt a blow to the adoption of high-powered wireless EV charging, Genesis were seen to be the first step toward the technology becoming widely adopted by luxury car brands, which would be followed by a trickle-down into more affordable vehicles. However, it is likely only a hiccup for the technology as a whole; there are many other applications such as industrial robots and drones. On top of these other applications, other vehicle manufacturers are actively assessing wireless charging including Volkswagen, Peugeot, and RAM as well as Tesla (apparent from its acquisition of Wiferion). On top of this there are attempts to develop other solutions including wireless charging roads (inductive loop) and retrofitting existing EVs for fleet applications. SAR Insight & Consulting covers the wireless charging market including the market for wireless vehicle charging as part of its Wireless Power and Charging Technologies service.
The original article is here.
