Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has a bit of a reputation for introducing ideas that may be far fetched from reality.
Whether it be the polygon-shaped Cybertruck, advanced humanoid robots, or the robotaxis that he expects to be better than GM-funded (GM) Cruise and Google's Waymo (GOOGL) , Tesla's wild ideas are a huge reason why its stock trades so high.
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However, newly unearthed documents show that Tesla may be proceeding with one of the bright ideas it has previously mentioned: one that may change lives and give Tesla owners an additional edge over the owners of other EVs.
Charging with no hands
According to a recent report by Electrek, Tesla has filed four patents with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), detailing different aspects of a wireless EV charging system.
The patent applications detail the various components of the wireless charging system. Based on the drawings, Tesla envisions a situation where owners of its cars will not have to touch any charging cables.
Theoretically, all Tesla drivers would have to do is park in their garage over a wireless induction pad; No tangled cables, no plugging in cars into the wall.
The patent application itself is an attempt to solidify the technology for managing power efficiency; the main issue preventing wireless EV chargers from going mainstream.
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A conceptual idea
Tesla's first introduction to wireless charging came during Tesla's Investor Day in March 2023, when Tesla's head of global charging infrastructure, Rebecca Tinucci, introduced the concept in a subtle, Steve Jobs-esqe "one more thing" moment at the end of her presentation.
"And one more thing. Yes, we've got to scale our infrastructure, and yes, we want to power it via renewable sources, but we are Tesla," Tinucci said. "So we also want to make sure that we are continuing to be focused on proving incredible charging experiences."
Behind her was a slide titled "Can't forget to do cool s***," which featured a rendering of Tesla's retro-style diner, as well as a rendering of a wireless home charging station.
In March 2023, Tesla acquired German EV charging company Wiferion, which specializes in EV wireless charging. It sold the company again in October the same year, but still retained some of its engineers.
Furthermore, in a video about the Tesla Cybertruck with storied late-night host and car enthusiast Jay Leno, Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhausen confirmed that the company is working on wireless charging.
"We are working on inductive charging," von Holzhausen told Leno. "You don’t even need to plug anything in at that point. You just drive over the pad in your garage and you start charging."
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Wireless charging is a cool idea and scientists in lab settings have been able to do wonderful things with the technology that could potentially become a solution for EV charging in the future.
In July 2024, researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee demonstrated the fastest wireless power transfer, transferring 270 kW (kilowatts) of power to a Porsche Taycan.
According to the researchers, the coils mounted on the car differ from those used to charge your phone, as they are meant to transfer that much power.
"The receiver coil designed for the Porsche Taycan research vehicle can achieve 8 to 10 times higher power density compared to existing systems," said Omer Onar, leader of the Vehicle Power Electronics group and lead researcher on the Porsche demonstration at ORNL.
“Per kilowatt weight, this is also the most lightweight charging system in the world.”
The researchers are also working with Porsche's parent company, Volkswagen, to further improve the wireless charging system, making it more cost-effective and appropriate for use in production vehicles.
“This achievement gets us one step further to the reality of a future where an electric vehicle can pull into a charging station and recharge in the same time it would take to walk into a store and grab a snack,” said ORNL vehicle and mobility systems research lead Burak Ozpineci. “The driver doesn’t have to do anything but park."
Tesla Inc., which trades under the ticker TSLA, is down 1.87% at the time of writing, trading at $221.93.
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