Genesis pulls the plug on wireless electric car charging

Hyundai’s luxury car brand, Genesis, is giving up on the dream of charging an electric car without plugging in.

That’s according to a report from Autospy, which says the cost of commercialising the technology – and the inefficiency inherent in wireless charging – are behind the decision to shelve the project.

The wireless charge infrastructure Genesis had rolled out in parts of Korea has reportedly been removed, rather than being expanded as initially planned.

“The reality is that various brands, including Genesis, are hesitating to commercialise wireless charging because the machine construction costs are still considerable,” an official quoted in the Autospystory explained.

Although the wireless tech was theoretically capable of 11kW charging, it only worked when the car’s charge coils and the wireless charging pad were perfectly aligned.

As anyone who’s wirelessly charged their phone will know, heat management was also a challenge when trying to wirelessly charge at car at 11kW.

The wireless charging dream isn’t entirely dead in Korea, though.

KG Mobility, the carmaker formerly known as SsangYong, has rolled out a 22kW wireless charge platform – with no plan to widely use it just yet.