Saar: Apart from being capable of transferring more than 10KW, the wireless charging tech can achieve up to 85 per cent efficiency.

There is always a sense of excitement when a big automotive player announces a new development surrounding EVs (electric vehicles). This time around it is the South Koreans, specifically the Hyundai-Kia family. The company had been working on developing a wireless charging solution for EVs for the past three years. Not alone though. It shook hands with a company called Mojo Mobility Inc., which is based in California, USA. The entire project was carried out with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

The testing has now been completed and a total of five Kia Soul EV models were used during this three-year project. The newly developed wireless charging system can transfer more than 10KW of energy in the fast charging state. During this time, the system will be targeting up to 85 per cent of efficiency. That means, only 15 per cent of energy will be wasted in an ideal situation. That, for a wireless charging solution, is not bad by any standards.

The South Koreans have even tried to explain the tech and since it is pretty dry, almost none of you will be interested in knowing all that. But for those who like to get themselves entangled between the dynamics of electricity and physics, we will be honouring their wants. So, what happens? Sure you want to read this part? Okay. Here we go. An electromagnetic field transfers energy from the transmitter on the ground and the receiver mounted at the bottom of the vehicle. As soon as the driver parks the vehicle above the transmitter, the energy is sent through an inductive coupling to an electrical device. That electrical device then charges the EV’s battery pack.

The company reported that the wireless charging system is quite efficient. So much so that it will even allow a bit of misalignment. Sadly, it didn’t quantify that parameter. But we do see the need to be a bit lenient in this respect. Otherwise, we’d be stuck all day to try and perfectly mate the transmitter and receiver wirelessly. Anyone familiar with transferring data using infra-red between two phones when Bluetooth wasn’t around, would really understand.

Now to the bad news. The company currently has no plan to offer this wireless charging technology to customers. That’s not done Hyundai! We’ll blame you because you own Kia Motors!