Kia Develops Wireless Charging System for Soul EV

Monday, 30 April, 2018

Wireless charging is already available for smartphones and other devices, and it’s super handy for times when you can’t or don’t want to plug in. This technology has already been developed for small devices — plus it’s available in select Kia vehicles — and Kia has successfully developed the same technology for its Soul EV.

The Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center, Inc. (HATCI), along with wireless technology company Mojo Mobility, Inc., has completed a three-year project to create a fast-charging wireless power transfer system for a test group of five Kia Soul EV vehicles.

HATCI and Mojo Mobility worked together with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy for this project in hopes of making electric vehicle charging plugs obsolete. The charging system is capable of transferring over 10 kW to the Soul EV for fast charging with up to 85 percent efficiency.

The wireless charging system uses an electromagnetic field to transfer energy between two coils. The coils are a transmitter on the ground and a receiver on the bottom of the vehicle. To begin wirelessly charging, the driver just has to park the car above the transmitter. Energy is then sent through an inductive coupling to an electrical device that uses energy to charge the vehicle’s battery. A little misalignment between the transmitter and receiver isn’t a big deal because the system is so efficient. This means if you don’t park directly over the transmitter on the ground, the vehicle will still charge.

“We’re thrilled with the success of the system and its efficiency,” HATCI President William Freels said in a press release . “We set out to develop wireless charging that has real-world applications and is easy to use for the consumer. Now, with this fleet of wireless Soul EVs, we can clearly see a future of unplugged electric vehicles.”

This wireless charging system isn’t available on Soul EVs currently available to the public, but it could be a feature on future Kia electric vehicles due to the success of the project. We at Landers Kia are looking forward to the day when wireless charging is a reality!

Categories : News , Green

Tags : Electric Vehicles , Soul EV , hybrid , Soul