Tesla could go a step further by offering wireless charging for their vehicles. The company recently made a statement to this effect, which sparked the interest of a German startup specializing in wireless charging. But the challenge does not look so simple.
Tesla isn’t the first auto company to take a serious look at wireless charging technology, but it can’t really be said to have taken off. To assert its leadership position, Tesla had to conquer the field of wireless. But for this, several technical and practical conditions must be overcome.
The challenges of wireless charging
What are the complex conditions that have hindered the large-scale development of wireless electric vehicle charging? First, it is much less efficient than cable charging. Advances have been made, including through an all-new coil design that enables high-power induction charging. The performance gap between wireless and wired is narrowing, but still there. The second challenge is infrastructural. Integrating an induction hob is much more expensive than installing a simple wall charger.
Nevertheless, Tesla pursues this goal with great seriousness. For what ? Because it would be the potential solution to automating the charging of its vehicles in anticipation of autonomous driving. No need for human intervention to connect a cable, too old-school all that! The idea is that the Teslas can recharge themselves when they need it, in perfect autonomy.
Tesla and Wiferion, a potentially winning union
Tesla has shown strong interest in acquiring a small start-up specializing in inductive charging of self-driving, self-driving vehicles. Wiferion, located in Germany, has developed many inductive charging solutions for electric vehicles and industrial robots. If Tesla acquires Wiferion, it will benefit from all the expertise of the startup as well as its technologies already developed in the past.
Despite its recent arrival on the market, the German startup has already deployed more than 8,000 chargers, which gives it solid experience in this area. Their experience in the industrial sector could also be very profitable for Tesla, whose production chains rely on an astronomical number of robots. If the proposed acquisition is finalized, Tesla’s projections will accelerate.
Wireless charging of electric vehicles is still in its infancy. Tesla intends to accelerate the movement despite the existing technical constraints, and still wants to prove that the company is a step ahead of the others. If techno seems absolutely attractive at first glance, it should not be forgotten that Tesla’s marketing strategy is mainly based on the announcement effect. Besides, we are all still waiting for the Tesla Cybertruck!
Source : Electrek, Wiferion
9