BMW is set to be the first to offer wireless car charging

Wireless car charging has been teased for a few years, but it's set to enter the consumer market officially this year after BMW confirmed it'll start production of an inductive charging pad in July.

Originally announced back in September 2017, and teased with a simple "2018 arrival", the German auto manufacturer has now provided more information on when we can expect to pick up the wireless charging pad for electric vehicles.

That's according to a report from Car, which sites word from from BMW that the pad will arrive "before the end of summer 2018", which means we're possibly looking at a late August/early September time frame.

Just one catch...

There is a small catch though - it'll only be available on a lease-deal for the BMW 530e iPerformance plug-in hybrid, which means the BMW i8 hybrid, fully electric BMW i3 and the firm's other hybrids miss out for now.

We know that the i8 and i3 can be adapter to work with wireless charging pads though, as they're used as the Safety and Medical car respectively in the Formula E racing series.

They use Qualcomm's Halo wireless charging technology, allowing them to juice up in the pit line without being plugged in - letting them be deployed immediately in the event of an on-track incident.

Support for the charging pad will roll out to more of BMW's range in the future, but for now we don't know which cars will get it, when and how much it will cost.

Via Engadget

John McCann
Former Global Managing Editor

TechRadar's former Global Managing Editor, John has been a technology journalist for more than a decade, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He’s interviewed CEOs from some of the world’s biggest tech firms, visited their HQs, and appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC, and BBC Radio 4.

Latest in Hybrid & Electric Vehicles
Volvo Gaussian Splatting
Volvo is using AI-generated worlds to make its cars safer and it’s all thanks to something called Gaussian splatting
BYD Han L
BYD’s latest electric vehicle platform can add 249-miles of range in just five minutes – your move Tesla!
Renault 5 Turbo 3E
Renault unveils its wildest EV to date and it comes with in-wheel motors and a rally-style vertical handbrake for drifting
Mercedes-Benz CLA 2025
I’ve tried the new Mercedes-Benz Superscreen – and its Google Gemini-powered smarts push EV infotainment to the next level
The Toyota FT-Me Concept sitting in a car park
Toyota's self-charging concept EV could help you tackle the daily commute on solar power alone
Nissan EvolvAD Autonomous Drive on the road
I’ve tried Nissan’s latest advanced driverless technology – and it handles 60mph on rural roads better than most humans
Latest in News
Stability AI 3D Video
Stability AI’s new virtual camera turns any image into a cool 3D video and I’m blown away by how good it is
The Google Wallet app with a mode for kids shown on-screen.
Google Wallet’s new kid-friendly payment system is a win for parents
A man holds a smartphone iPhone screen showing various social media apps including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Threads, Instagram and X
A worrying Apple Password App vulnerability reportedlyleft users exposed for months
Google Pixel 9a
Google is delaying the Pixel 9a to fix a mystery “component quality issue”
The bottom left corner of an Android phone, showing the Phone, Messages, Google icons and Google Search bar
Google Messages remote delete will soon save you from texting embarrassment – and here's how it works
ExpressVPN mobile app and Aircove
ExpressVPN ‘reduces workforce’ for the second time in two years