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Porsche's New Cayenne Will Charge Itself Like No Other EV:
Those who closely follow electric cars will have heard whispers of wireless charging for a while now. And if you're not an EV aficionado, you've probably wondered why it hasn't happened. Well, that's all about to change. Porsche announced on Thursday that it's rolling out wireless charging on the upcoming all-electric Cayenne later this year.
The goal is to put an end to wrangling thick and bulky charging cables. Instead, Porsche is stepping in as the first electric car maker to offer wireless charging that's actually going into production.
Porsche's inductive charging system delivers up to 11kW with around 90% efficiency, which is on par with traditional wired AC charging. But unlike most EV solutions that involve a jungle of wall-mounted boxes, Porsche's setup requires just one unassuming floor plate in your garage or driveway. Given that Porsche says roughly 75% of electric charging happens at home, it's not hard to see the appeal.
This one-box system does away with the wall box and bulky control units, making the process look effortless. Just park your Cayenne Electric over the slab, and you're good to go. The car even lowers itself slightly to align with the plate -- which makes charging as efficient as possible.
Many startups have tried and failed to make wireless charging for EVs happen over the years, said Antuan Goodwin, CNET's senior cars writer. "Challenges that have kept the tech from widespread adoption include: fragile hardware (it will be run over by drivers), alignment issues, energy losses that make it significantly slower than plugging in or excessive/dangerous heat generation from sending high amperage over air."
Porsche thinks it's managed to overcome these roadblocks. The system works via a transmitter coil embedded in the base plate and a corresponding receiver in the vehicle's underbody, sandwiched between the front wheels. It transfers energy using a magnetic field over a gap of a few centimeters, and it has all the safety features you'd expect: motion sensors, object detection and a big red pause button.
The Cayenne Electric, which will be the first to offer this tech, is due for its release later this year. As for the floor plate, it will go on sale in 2026 through Porsche Centres and online. Pricing hasn't been detailed yet, but expect it to land at the premium end.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by VLM on Sunday September 07, @08:32PM (1 child)
The people who collect super cars at super prices like the idea they're buying art that'll sell for the same price or more in a couple decades if they don't put too many miles on it.
I don't know how that will work with EV fad of the month and EV charger fad of the month.
You can justify buying a $1M car if it'll sell for inflation adjusted $1M+ in a decade or three. However, buying a gadget that'll be scrap due to technological change and embedded obsolescence in a decade or less... I donno.
(Score: 2) by aafcac on Sunday September 07, @09:37PM
Depending upon the specifics, a working induction charger with decent efficiency would solve a bunch of problems related to people destroying charging stations, stealing charging cables and you could potentially place them over a larger portion of a parking lot without needing to have a bunch of space in between the rows for the chargers as you'd be limited by the permanent wires being installed, rather than by people having to carry the cables with them and then walk too and from the charger.
Induction charging has been around for quite a while and it works relatively well, especially in situations like bathrooms where there's a bunch of moisture. The big questions are really going to be related to efficiency and ability to scale. You could potentially install a bunch of them in areas where you know that people are going to be stopping for long periods of time anyways, like the line up to get on the ferry.