Tesla has been working on a wireless charging system for its electric vehicles (EVs) for a number of years, and while we still don’t know when the product will officially launch, we are finally getting some details about its performance.
We first learned about Tesla’s wireless charger in 2023 when the company snuck an image of the new charging system in its Investor Day presentation. Since then Tesla has purchased, and then sold, a wireless charging company called Wiferion, keeping the company’s engineers to help further develop their own system.
More information was shared when Tesla filed a patent application for their wireless charger earlier this year. However, the biggest piece(s) of information missing from all of this was how well the system performs compared to actually plugging the car in.
Then came Tesla’s robotaxi reveal event. During the presentation Musk talked about how the Cybercab would have no charge port and would only be able to charge wirelessly. Interestingly, Tesla didn’t show the Cybercab charging wirelessly during the livestream, but did show it during the in-person presentation, as we first shared on X. Now the company has officially released the clip, giving us more details.
Robotaxi wireless charging
— Tesla (@Tesla) October 18, 2024
No hands required pic.twitter.com/XL746DkGhb
Based on what Tesla showed during the event, the current wireless charging technology teased by Tesla promises a charge rate of up to 25 kW, which is faster than typical home level 2 chargers, but obviously much slower than the 250kW from Superchargers. This was of course just an animation, but Tesla would have put actual figures from their testing in the demo.
Wireless charging is not just about charge speed, but also efficiency. Following the release of the video above, tech reviewer Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) suggested that if Tesla were to achieve efficiency above 75%, it would be remarkable.
Bronwlee’s comment drew a lot of attention, including from Tesla themselves, who replied in a post on X that the efficiency is actually “well above 90%.”
Efficiency is well above 90%
— Tesla (@Tesla) October 19, 2024
If Tesla’s figures hold true to when the product launches, it could revolutionize the charging industry with its combination of high speed and high efficiency.
Tesla has not said when then wireless charger will launch. As we noted above, the company said the Cybercab will only be able to charge wirelessly, but we already know the Cybertruck is equipped for wireless charging, so it could come before the release of the Cybercab, which is slated for 2026/2027.
