Added on April 13, 2018  The News Wheel   , , , ,
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Kia Uses Kia Soul EVs for New Fast-Charging Wireless System

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2018 Kia Soul

A three-year project aimed to further advance the technology of electric vehicles has come to an end with promising results.

Learn More: Why you should buy a Kia Soul EV

The joint effort between Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center, Inc. (HATCI) and Mojo Mobility, Inc. (Mojo) “to develop a fast-charging wireless power transfer system” has reset the “future of electric vehicles in which plugs are no longer necessary,” according to Kia.

A fleet of Kia Soul EVs served as the project’s test subject.

“The system works by using an electromagnetic field to transfer energy between two coils — a transmitter on the ground and a receiver on the bottom of the vehicle. The driver simply parks the car above the transmitter to begin charging and then energy is sent through an inductive coupling to an electrical device, which uses that energy to charge the electric vehicles’ battery,” reports Kia.

This new system will make driving an EV more convenient.

“We’re thrilled with the success of the system and its efficiency,” said William Freels, HATCI President. “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.”

Learn More: Kia’s Virtual Assistant

Even though the three-year project netted impressive results, there is no plan to add the wireless charging system to Kia vehicles available to consumers, reports Kia, but there is potential for like systems to be incorporated into electric vehicles engineered by Kia.