► Cayenne EV to offer inductive charging tech
► Cable-free and 90% average efficiency
► Price TBC, but likely around £5-6k
Tired of plugging in your luxury electric SUV after a long drive home from the office? Bored of getting muck on your perfectly pressed slacks from the dirty, awkward cable? Fear not, Porsche has the answer. Introducing the inductive charging tech on the all-electric Cayenne.
We’ve heard of the idea before and even seen some demos via the likes of Genesis for example, but Porsche is the first major European car manufacturer to roll out the tech as an optional extra on a specific model. Weighing in at about 50kg, the charging pad (no larger than a yoga matt) has been developed by Porsche and is designed to sit on the driveway or garage floor with a cable leading to your consumer unit – just like a regular home charger.
Charging speeds are 11kW and all you need to do to activate the charger (which is connected to the Porsche app via your Wi-Fi network) is drive over it – literally. Come within 7.5m and the central infotainment automatically brings up the onboard camera and then uses a guidance system to bring you into the correct position.
Sounds complex but, when we tried it for ourselves, we noticed that you really don’t have to be that accurate. Just get the car roughly in the correct spot and the charge can commence. This is because the bottom of the vehicle has a smaller, water-cooled 15kg charging plate.
Obviously, you’ll need to have both plates to get wireless charging from your Cayenne EV. Porsche says that the vehicle pad will be ‘below €2000’ and the ground pad will be around €5000. However, you won’t need to get the tech installed from factory – it can be retrofitted by Porsche providing the inductive charging preparation pack was specced from new.
Porsche GB has told us that all cars sold in the UK will come with the preparation pack as standard, thus anyone buying the electric Cayenne can – in theory – have it fitted later down the line providing the tech is ready for mass production by the time the first UK cars land in 2026.
Any downsides? It’s fairly expensive (anything up to 5-6 times the cost of a regular home charger), but when set against the price of a new Cayenne Electric (likely to be well into six figures) it looks a lot more palatable. The charging pad will also work with future electric Porsches, plus it’s waterproof and animal proof.
While it’s perfectly safe for your cat or dog to walk over the pad while the car is charging, Porsche has – mainly for customer peace of mind – added motion detectors that trigger a cutoff function should a foreign object appear. Leaves and snow, however, are perfectly fine, Porsche says, and won’t impact the charge. And yes, it can survive being inadvertently driven over by a 2.6-tonne Cayenne.
The technology complies to UK smart charging regulations but Porsche is yet to confirm any details on any available warranty.
James heads up our automotive video activities in the UK and is responsible for video on CAR magazine. Usually found in front of camera, he is also an amateur race driver and has tested most of the supercars that matter over the last few years. James also contributes reviews, videos, news and advice across our sister website Parkers.co.uk.
Head of automotive video for CAR magazine, its sister website Parkers.co.uk and Motorcyle News.