Genesis could abandon inductive charging plans

There have been several rumours that Hyundai's premium brand Genesis has plans for inductive charging of electric cars - sometimes with its own components, sometimes with WiTriCity. Now, a pilot project in South Korea has apparently been put on ice - and the whole project was probably scrapped.

The Hyundai brand Genesis is apparently saying goodbye to its ambitions for inductive charging of electric cars. As the Korean portal Bloter reports, Genesis dismantled wireless EV chargers installed in Seoul last year. They had been located at Genesis sites in the districts of Gangnam and Suji, and the Hyundai Motor Studio Goyang since February 2022.

However, it is about more than just the few pilot locations. The company also scrapped plans for some 75 stations in parking garages. According to the report, the company is withdrawing from the business for cost reasons and because of problems with the efficiency of the inductive charging technology and the communication between the charger and the vehicle. However, the Hyundai Motor Group has yet to confirm this. According to Bloter, Genesis wants to concentrate on developing “high-quality premium charging stations” instead of the supposedly more convenient inductive charging.

The Genesis system offers 11 kW of charging power, while the AC charging points commonly used in South Korea are usually rated at 7 kW. But the system has also reduced the range of the GV60 by 19 kilometres, according to the report. KG Mobility, the successor to SsangYong, already introduced an inductive charging system with 22 kW some time ago. As with Genesis, however, it is also unclear when the system will be commercialised.

In November 2020, there was an initial report that Genesis intended to offer a self-developed inductive charging system as an option for its first purely electric model eG80. Then, in August 2021, it was reported that the Genesis GV60 would be the first model in the E-GMP electric platform to receive an inductive charging function with hardware from WiTriCity.

bloter.net (in Korean)