Tesla patents wireless charging for the Robotaxi

The company has filed documents for wireless charging of the electric vehicle that it will present on 10 October

Tesla's wireless charging is on the way

By: Francesco Barontini

Published by: Brian Potter

Sep 11, 2024 at 3:47am ET

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Among Tesla's most eagerly awaited innovations is the Robotaxi, a fully self-driving vehicle without steering wheel and pedals, which will be unveiled on 10 October in Los Angeles. The occasion, also considering the fact that the event has been postponed by a few months from the original plans, could be a good opportunity to announce a few more projects.

Now that a number of patents have been uncovered in this regard, it is widely believed that, along with the new model, the American company could also be talking about wireless charging.

Perfect for Robotaxi

Wireless charging is nothing new for Tesla. The company considered it several years ago, but then abandoned the idea. More recently, however, Tesla made it known through an image posted on social media that it was working on induction charging again.

Now, on X, Tesla expert SETI Park has published a patent for a new wireless charging system that, it seems, could be introduced at the same time as the Robotaxi and could be compatible with the new vehicle. The patent is titled 'Estimating Parameters for Wireless Charging' and illustrates a system with a plate that is placed on the floor.

Making life easier

The operation is well known: the car parks itself on top of the plate and starts to receive energy, which is stored by the battery. The system would work perfectly with the Robotaxi, which, not being driven by humans, would not need any cables to be plugged in to recharge itself.

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Elon Musk previously showed a picture of a strange snake-like charger capable of reaching the car's charging socket and starting the process of passing electrons. Mobile robotic charging stations have also been hypothesised by other manufacturers, but wireless charging would solve many problems.

On the net, the question is already being asked: will Tesla make this option available on other cars in production? Probably yes. Will the technology be compatible with cars already on the road? Probably not. But to get these answers, we will just have to wait (hopefully) until 10 October.

Where do we stand with wireless charging:

This wireless charging is really 'superfast'