Wireless Tesla EV charging might have roadmap with German firm

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Tesla hinted just a few months ago that it might be planning to offer wireless charging for its vehicles. And now, one of the company’s recent acquisitions might help it tap into the tech it needs to make that possible. 

Although no public statement has been made as of yet, Tesla appears to have recently purchased Wiferion, a German company that specializes in applications of wireless charging. The acquisition was spotted by Teslarati, citing the German site TeslaMag

TeslaMag reports that the small company was founded as Blue Inductive in 2016 and was renamed in 2019. Wiferion has recently updated its website footer to read “Tesla Engineering Germany GmbH 2023.”

WiTricity and Siemens wireless charging station

WiTricity and Siemens wireless charging station

Wiferion just last summer entered a licensing agreement with U.S.-based wireless-charging heavyweight patent-holder WiTricity, relating to industrial wireless charging applications, and at that time called itself “the leading solution provider for mobile, wireless power supplies for industrial e-vehicles.” As the release on that agreement notes, the company’s tech can give industrial automation and industrial vehicles 32% uptime with charging “in process” as part of workflow rather than at the end of shifts. 

The German company’s site emphasizes its range of industrial applications for wireless charging, as well as its applications for Autonomous Mobile Robots—so it’s not immediately clear whether Tesla plans to incorporate the technology for charging its vehicles, its Optimus Prime robot, or factory robots for another manufacturing reboot.

Model S wireless charging pad

Model S wireless charging pad

Although the intent behind this move hasn’t been clarified or confirmed yet by any of the companies involved, Tesla has strongly hinted that the tech is in its future and would likely tie directly to its cars. Earlier this year, as part of its Investor Day in March, Tesla teased what appeared to be a wireless charging pad, set under a garage-parked Model S, as part of a slide suggesting that Tesla “can’t forget to do cool s***.”

WiTricity has fitted its tech to both a Tesla Model 3 and Ford Mustang Mach-E for demonstration purposes, and at least earlier this year it remained the only company supplying its technology in an original-equipment application outside China—in the South Korean–market Genesis GV60

Green Car Reports has reached out to both Witricity and Wiferion for comment. Tesla does not respond to press requests. 

Robotic inductive Ram Charger for future Ram EV

Robotic inductive Ram Charger for future Ram EV

Wireless charging has a convenience factor that may win over would-be EV owners, as drivers don’t need to remember to plug in every night; they’re simply prompted to park the car centered over a charging pad. The tech has already led to some eye-catching concepts, like the production-bound Ram Charge inductive charging robot that Stellantis had developed for its Ram 1500 REV electric truck

It also becomes a necessary component of self-driving vehicles, such as the revenue-generating robotaxis Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long suggested are the eventuality of its Full Self-Driving functionality—unless Tesla decides to bring back other approaches such as its prototype snake charger or Tesla battery swapping.

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