Tesla Set To Shake Up The EV Industry With Wireless Charging Technology

Since Tesla's arrival, the entire electric vehicle market has advanced remarkably; without a doubt, it could be said that the company has always been the main promoter of these 'zero emissions' models. A revolution to which the entire industry has responded: up until today almost all automotive brands already have an electric car to offer. However, the evolution continues its course and the next step that Tesla wants to master begins to become quite clear.

Tesla is already setting the pace for electric car sales with sales figures that exceed anything imagined until just a few years ago. But what will be the next step for Elon Musk's company? Some would say that it could be full autonomous driving or the evolution of batteries to achieve better range and performance figures. But no, nothing of this kind: new information states that the company could be in fact very interested in entering the wireless charging technology.

Many car manufacturers, such as Hyundai, Stellantis or Porsche have confirmed that they are working on this type of technology; now Tesla also - apparently - intends to join this 'league'. The Austin brand would be interested in acquiring a small German company specialized in wireless charging called “Wiferion”. A rumor that has triggered all alarms as it could very well be a possible future launch of a wireless charger for Tesla electric cars.

Until now, this has been a technology that has not taken off in the automotive sector due to some notable handicaps that remain to be solved, such as its energy efficiency, since it is not as optimized as cable charging; the temperature issue is also crucial, in addition to the fact that it is notably more expensive to install, since a charging platform must be installed and put into the ground, which entails more work than attaching a post to a wall, as is the case with “regular” chargers.

As many experts explain, this is not an element that actually solves a specific problem, since it only eliminates the plug of an electric car via a cable: a very small comfort for so much necessary development. Although Elon Musk, years ago, criticized this technology since its ease of use meant increasing the number of battery charges and discharges, in turn increasing its degradation, time has made him change his mind. Tesla has already commented on numerous occasions about the future automation of all (or most) of the environments that surround its electric cars, something that would be essential when presenting a fully autonomous car.

A few years ago it was already possible to see that Tesla had developed a robotic arm that automatically plugged in the car. Although at the time that did not make much sense due to its development and manufacturing costs, from the company they see the use of wireless charging as much easier and more logical.

Earlier this year, Tesla flirted with the idea of ​​a wireless charging base, something that could confirm the interest in this technology. Now it seems that they have found the key to speed up the development process by taking over this company called Wiferion, as confirmed by Business Insider.

“Electric car giant Tesla is said to be trying to buy Wiferion. This arises from the entry in the commercial register that announces the following: 'The shareholders intend to sell their shares to the Tesla International company through a purchase agreement.’ Two of the investors in the company confirmed that this had occurred, although without giving names. One of them stated that he is an interesting buyer", they pointed out.

At the moment, no official news has been given by either party, although if the agreement has been closed, the first information in this regard could arrive in the next few days. The acquisition of Wiferion would undoubtedly place Tesla in a prime position to integrate wireless charging technology into their vehicles, allowing their electric cars to become even more user-friendly and emphasize the convenience aspect of EV ownership. Furthermore, the utilization of wireless charging systems could also greatly benefit their planned autonomous vehicle fleets by enabling seamless charging without human intervention.

The remaining challenges of wireless charging technology, such as energy efficiency, temperature regulation, and installation costs, could potentially be addressed and improved upon by Tesla's innovative engineering team. Considering the brand's reputation for pushing the boundaries in the EV market, it would not be surprising if they manage to overcome these hurdles and popularize wireless charging as a viable option for electric vehicle owners.

Source: businessinsider

Nico Caballero specializes in Data Analytics and solar energy. He also holds a Diploma in Electric Cars from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and enjoys doing research about Tesla and EV batteries. He can be reached at @NicoTorqueNews on Twitter. Nico covers Tesla and electric vehicle latest happenings at Torque News.