We’re not talking about the in-car charging of smartphones on a pad which gets it far too hot, though it uses a similar concept.
The upcoming electric Porsche Cayenne will be the brand’s first car to feature inductive high-voltage battery charging, operating off the increasingly common – at least in smartphones – technique of driving the car over a charging pad.
When parked above the 1170mm long, 780mm wide and 60mm tall charging pad, the Cayenne can be charged at up to 11kW, about the same as some on-board AC chargers but without the need to plug a cable directly into the car.
After driving over the top of the pad, which is aided by using the surround-view camera, the car’s air suspension lowers it to be closer to the element.
The magnetic field which wireless charges the Cayenne is claimed to be 90 per cent efficient. While it’s likely to be installed inside a driveway, the pad’s internal components are protected from snow and rain, and can even be driven on without being damaged.
Porsche will launch its inductive charging pad in 2026 in Europe, though it’s unclear when it – and the new electric Cayenne – will come here.
The German marque isn’t the first carmaker to trial or roll out the technology. Hyundai’s luxury brand Genesis also had an 11kW wireless charging pad which it rolled out in South Korea, before axing it due to high costs and low uptake.
BMW also introduced the technology in 2018 on the 530e iPerformance PHEV, though it’s not been widely seen since. Tesla additionally filed a patent for the tech in 2024.
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