Tesla seems to have done a complete 180 on wireless charging tech after years of giving the cold shoulder to cable-free power. Why the sudden change? Two words: autonomous vehicles. The biggest tell for Tesla’s foray into wireless charging is that Tesla’s futuristic Robotaxi doesn’t even have a charging port. The company dropped a video showcasing its wireless charging capabilities during the Robotaxi reveal in 2024.
Its not just that, there were plenty of signals even prior to that. In 2023, Tesla acquired a wireless charging startup, only to later sell it a few months later (they still kept the engineering team). Tesla has also been actively hiring for its wireless charging team, this is a job post from just a couple of days ago.
The key folks at Tesla have openly talked about wireless charging being a part of Tesla’s plans. During the “We, Robot” event, Mr. Tesla himself (aka Elon Musk) confirmed the Cybercab would use inductive charging instead of a NACS port. Tesla’s chief designer Franz von Holzhausen has also confirmed development.
The key problem though is that the charging speeds shown at Tesla’s big reveal suggested a charging rate much closer to 25 kW than 250 kW. This is not necessarily a dealbreaker as every robotaxi can theoretically take a 2 hour break every 4-6 hours just to recharge, buts it’s just not that efficient to spend 2 hours in a parking spot.
What we do know is that there are companies that are now selling high powered inductive charging systems that go well beyond 25 kW. Induct EV, for example, offers 75 kW of fast charging using one charging pad which can be aggregated to up to 450 kW by using multiple pads. It’s only a matter of time before Tesla comes up with a similar, if not better technology.
But that’s not all, one of the biggest challenges for charging infrastructure is not necessarily the charging technology, but securing access to excellent sites and getting the necessary permitting and electrical service done. This takes a lot of work and time (several years) and fortunately for Tesla, they have a leg up here.
With the largest charging network in the world, Tesla already has several supercharger sites that are located either adjacent to or within parking lots. Tesla could easily leverage this access to add several wireless charging spots.
Given all this, you shouldn’t be surprised to see Tesla wireless charging spots prop up as we get closer and closer to the roll out of Tesla’s autonomous cyber cabs. We expect this to be a 2026 event as that is when the first cyber cabs are expected to hit the road. Sure, cable charging is going to be the dominant form of charging for the next few decades, but if Tesla has success with its robotaxi fleet, expect wireless charging to become more commonplace as well.