Kia Has Bold Plans For Integrating Solar Panels, Hydrogen & Wireless Charging

Kia has been pushing electric cars and its recent Soul EV, eNiro and EV6 have actually done pretty well. But the Hyundai-owned company isn't holding back as it has great plans of launching 11 new EVs, including the EV6 which is based on the Hyundai Ioniq, by 2026. Kia's president and CEO Paul Philpott has revealed that it has plans for hydrogen vehicles as it has quite a bit of expertise with fuel cell technology. 

"We're part of the Hyundai Motor Group, based in South Korea. South Korea is a big producer of hydrogen, and whilst Kia has been pushing ahead with EV, Hyundai has also been experimenting with hydrogen," Philpott revealed to Techradar. 

"At the moment it's a Hyundai-led experiment into hydrogen. It raises all kinds of infrastructure issues, but I do think in the long term hydrogen will be a viable alternative to electric," Philpott explained.

The EV6 is based on the Hyundai Ioniq 

Apart from Hyundai, Toyota has been pushing hydrogen technology with its Mirai. But the problem with hydrogen is the infrastructure which still hasn't been figured out. 

"Electric is great, providing the electricity producers are sustainable. Hydrogen has other challenges, but I think it is a viable alternative for the future, and that has to be good," revealed Philpott. 

One of the solutions that it is working on to remedy the infrastructure piece is to harness the power of the sun something Philpott revealed.  Another solution is wireless charging from under the road something which Hyundai group's Genesis brand is working on with the GV60. Since Kia is part of the same group this technology will make its way as it has now become pervasive with gadgets. 

"Wireless charging will come over time, but it raises different infrastructure questions about how you monitor it, where it go," Philpott explained.

"Under-road charging would be fantastic because then you've not got to plug [EVs] in, you can charge while you're driving, but I think it's still some way off," he added.