New Porsche Cayenne Electric to have wireless charging

Charging a smartphone without connecting to a charging point has been possible by using a powerbank. This convenience then got better with wireless charging or inductive charging, available for many of the newer devices, which did not require a cable connection. Just place the phone on the powerbank or charging pad (in some cars) and electrical energy flows into the battery.

Now that same idea is coming to cars. A few companies have been trying out the idea for some years and Porsche will be the first automaker to bring an 11 kW charging system with a one-box base plate for fully electric vehicles to market maturity.

“Ease of use, suitability for everyday use and charging infrastructure are still the decisive factors when it comes to the acceptance of electric mobility,” said Porsche Board Member for Development Michael Steiner. “We are proud that inductive charging will soon be available in series production at Porsche. Charging an electric car at home has never been so easy and convenient.”

Of course, the vehicle must also be designed with the hardware to enable inductive wireless charging and the first model which will have such a capability will be the new Cayenne Electric to be unveiled at the end of 2025. Porsche Wireless Charging will initially launch in Europe in 2026, and other markets worldwide will follow.

Optional feature
Wireless charging will be an optional feature initially and customers who want the capability can order the Cayenne Electric with Porsche Wireless Charging pre-installation and Porsche Wireless vehicle plate. Protected from stone chips and the effects of the weather, the receiver unit is located in the underbody of the vehicle between the front wheels.

For the charging process, the SUV then only has to be parked above the floor plate, and then lowers itself automatically. The contactless transfer of energy between the two charging units takes place over a distance of a few centimetres. The energy is transferred through the air via a magnetic field.

Comparable to wired AC charging
With a maximum charging power of up to 11 kW, Porsche says it has even reached the level of wired AC charging with its contactless charging system – so recharging will not be very fast. However, the efficiency of energy transfer from the power grid to the battery is up to 90%.

The base plate has a motion detector and foreign object detection. The charging process is automatically interrupted if a living creature gets between the vehicle and the floor plate or if a metallic object lies on the latter and heats up. Electromagnetic radiation is limited to the underbody of the vehicle during charging., and the floor plate meets EU and US-wide requirements for safety and environmental protection.

The floor plate, which weighs 50 kgs, is equipped with an LTE and WLAN module as standard. This allows it to receive software updates ‘over the air’.

Porsche Wireless Charging is integrated into the My Porsche app, so that charging processes can be tracked and several vehicles can be authenticated. A special view in the Surround View parking function makes it easier to steer the Cayenne to the optimal charging position. As soon as the parking position above the floor plate is reached and the parking brake is activated, the charging process begins automatically.

Porsche has found that around 75% of all charging processes in an all-electric model like the Macan or Taycan take place at home. The potential for inductive charging is therefore great. Instead of a wallbox, the owner can install the floor plate (length: 117 cm, width: 78 cm, height: 6 cm) in the garage or any open space where it can be connected to a power supply.