You will want to have some space between them. First, because the induction cooktop installation directions may require cabinet walls at the ends of the space under the cooktop, and second because the induction ceram glass surface needs to be relatively evenly supported on all four sides. A third reason would be to ensure that the countertop itself is adequately supported. All of these reasons could be overcome by an atypical cabinet structural design (probably involving metal support). A fourth reason could depend on whether pans on each surface might crowd one another. Note that one doesn't normally shake pans on induction cooktops (not good for the glass), whereas cooking on gas can involve more physical pan action. More room around the gas burner might be helpful in such cases. There may be manufacturers that support proximate installation, but I have never researched this. I have a 36-inch induction cooktop next to a Cooktek induction wok hob. The exposed countertop gap between them is 5 inches. To fit this configuration my hood width is 66 inches, wider than you require. Your hood, however, should ideally be sized so that given the final layout of the cooktops, there is sufficient overlap of the hot pans on each to capture the rising and expanding cooking plumes. Presence or lack of cabinets to the sides of the hood helping direct the effluent can make a difference in capture efficiency. In an island configuration with a hot pan at the edge of the induction cooktop opposite the gas burner side, I would go to a 54-inch hood. With a 48-inch hood, even on a wall, I would consider placing the pan to cook the most greasy smokey food towards the middle of the hood. kas

For a true Bosch bridge unit, it will look like following picture (http://www.bosch-home.com/us/products/cooking-baking/cooktops.html#tab5). It comprises of 4 small coils to cover the whole bridge area. A number of coils can be activated at the same time e.g. all 4, 3, 2 + 2 etc to create different heating pattern. Many other brands use two sets of squarish coils e.g. still circular, but sitting very close together. Wolf is not a true bridge as far as I understand. When used with 20cmx40cm pan, griddle, grill, especially the multiply type, heat will be very even thoughout. If you use double burner pans a lot, a true bridge induction unit is worth it.

Since folks occasionally come across this thread, perhaps it's time for a 2023 update. Bosch Bosch has released a new "Pro" model in their 800 series line. The 800 Series Induction freestanding range (model number HIS8055U has front control knobs, but a rather small oven at 3.9 CuFt. While it does check my boxes for individual burner controls, preferably knobs, there's a few things to note: Oven size is rather small No bridge burner While Bosch themselves don't list out the wattage of each burner, it is a 40A circuit, so it may be a little less power than the Miele, Wolf or Fulgor Milano And this is a rumor and something I heard on a few appliance review videos, but unable to confirm: This product is the Smeg cooktop. If so, the burner power would be two burners at 3,000 W and two at 1,400 W. Which is indeed quite a bit less than the other top choices I had listed in the original post So overall it may look great, has front control knobs for each individual burner, but it may not have the power and/or reliability of the Bosch Benchmark slide-in induction range. Thermador They have been known for their "Freedom Induction Cooktop", especially in the 36" version. There are no truly dedicated burners, but a large "flex zone" on both the left and right side that are each powered by two separate inductors. You can use each zone as two individual burners or as one large cooking zone. You can slide pots and pans around over the entire zone and with several different programming options, it will remember your setting and transfer it to wherever you move the pan. Or you can set it to be in incrementally lower power settings front to back. So it can be on 9 at the front, 7 in the middle, 5 further back, etc.... Sear and just slide it back to lower the power setting. Extremely high tech and super impressive. So now Thermador has released this in a 30" induction range. The Thermador Liberty® Induction Professional Range 30'' Pro Harmony® (that's a mouthful) with model number PRI30LBHU is a sleek looking cooking range, with an impressively capable induction cooktop. What stood out to me: The Liberty or Freedom cooktop is phenomenally flexible, powerful and high tech. A little overwhelmingly high-tech even However, in a 30" range, it seems a little small. While the entire glass cooktop is 22 1/2" deep, a large section in the front is taken up by the controls. Based on some initial measurements, that means the flex zone cooking surface is only about 15 1/2" to 16" deep. I have to find one in person to confirm that, but based on images and scale, that's it came out to. Sounds awfully small to me And, for me, the biggest sticking point is the lack of individual burner control. On the 36" version there is a very sleek looking control panel that is very intuitive with a slider control. On the 30" version, it looks very much like the Bosch controls and hence not my personal favorite. But it may work for you All that being said, it's probably been the most exciting release in the 30" induction range world for the last year. The images attached are the size of the Thermador cooktop and the comparison the controls of the 30" Liberty range vs the 36" Freedom cooktop Other updates Dacor Has completely abandoned and discontinued the 30" induction range Fisher & Paykel Someone did point out that DCS sold the household appliance brand F&P to Haier. Which is a Chinese conglomerate that owns GE Appliances, Hoover, Hotpoint, Sanyo and a few other brands. I have not necessarily heard anything bad about F&P and know several folks have purchased F&P 9 series Classic models since they come in different colors to match your desired interior Fulgor Milano They seem to be more prevalent now than they were when I wrote the original article. And many people are quite impressed and happy with the quality. One re-occurring comment I see is that the oven seems to indicate that the preheat is complete, while the temperature is not fully distributed throughout the oven cavity yet. Especially in simple bake mode. The workaround seems to be to preheat with a convection mode to ensure the entire oven cavity is heated through and then switch back to the preferred baking mode. A bit of a workaround, but it that's the only complaint, I think it remains a strong top contender GE Cafe and Profile No major updates Miele Likewise no significant updates. The induction range is still on version 3 and remains equally impressive as it was when I posted the original article. Wolf Only has released a style update with a different oven door handle. Wait times seem to have gone down, but no feature or other technical updates As far as I know those are the updates I was able to find, so I hope this helps those continuing to shop around

@wdccruise you are incorrect about having to select an element first. Here's how it actually works. You set the pan/pot on the element, then turn the stovetop on. The stove automatically senses where the pot/pan is, so all you have to do is select your temperature. To change the temp, you just select the number you wish. If you have more than one pot on the stove, then yes, you'll have to select what element you wish to use for that second pot. There is a grid on the stove to select which burner, very easy to use. There is no slide of any kind, so I don't know what you mean by" virtual slider." Bosch's temperature settings are numbers listed on a linear line. You tap which number or 1/2 number matches the temperature you desire. IMO it's much to-do about nothing using a touchpad rather than knobs. And knobs are harder to clean. However, Bosch is switching to knobs for its range. I think because people are having a hard time adjusting to the idea of a range that doesn't have knobs. I remember being so confused by my old electric range, trying to figure out which knob I should choose for which burner. In the 20 years I owned that range it was never intuitive and so-so many times my husband and I turned on the wrong burner. The Bosch range is totally intuitive, not hard to comprehend, and we've found that the touchpad becomes automatic for the user in no time at all. Plus Bosch has a cook timer for each hob, which automatically turns the element off when it's done--I never would have dreamed how much I would use that feature. My countertops are perfectly level, because we made sure they were when we installed the cabinets.