Wireless Charging for Tesla Model S Pros and Cons

Plugless announced a wireless charging upgrade for Tesla Model S. The video below shows how Tesla Model S can charge itself wirelessly. But is it worth it?

Several Tesla Model S owners are actively discussing the pros and cons of the wireless charging at Tesla Model S Owners Club on Facebook. Here are few interesting opinions from that discussion if it's worth it to charge your Model S without touching of your hands.

The main spec is that it gives you 20-25 miles of range per hour parked. Some Model S owners say it's too slow and not worth it.

"According to the specs, this is about 75% efficient, so you'll be paying 33% more for charging your car. That's about an extra dollar a day vs. plugging in your car, plus whatever you consider for the energy that is wasted for this convenience," writes a group member Andreas referring to Plugless charging. Plus, at to this the $3500 to buy it plus install.

Leo Macdonald comments that he read all the specifications and you have to dig pretty deep to find that it has 15% loss relative to a hard wire. "I wasn't thrilled about the efficient loss since I've replaced my lightbulbs, fit a programmable t-stat, efficient appliances, solar panels, etc, so I don't like parasitic loss at my house," Macdonald writes.

Some Model S owners say that they actually enjoy coming home and physically plugging their cars in to charge it. It just reinforces that they drive an electric car and it only takes a moment so they don't see what the big deal is.

Wireless charging has been available for the Tesla for a long time. This is not new. The problem with wireless charging is it is inefficient and you waste over 20-25% of the charge.

It obviously has pros and cons, but I am sure over time it will improve. But I also have a question. Is any energy wasted during the charging and will the wasted energy be heating your garage?

Now this wireless charging for Tesla Model S has been available for a while and not new to some. But second generation could be the future of charging if they can improve the specs. In fact, Nissan Leaf went wireless in 2011 and Mercedes-Benz was going to update its S-Class Plug-In Hybrid for the 2017 model year.

If you have used Wireless Charging please let us know how it works for you. We would love to read your comments below.

Image source: Plugless