Tesla teased a wireless home charging solution during its Investor Day presentation held earlier this week at the company’s gigafactory in Austin, Texas. The tease was easy to miss, as it appeared on screen only for a short time during Tesla Head of Global Charging Infrastructure Rebecca Tinucci’s presentation on the company’s work around charging and its popular supercharger network.
The tease appeared on a slide Tinucci was using at the end of her presentation to remind everyone that Tesla doesn’t “forget to do cool s***.” One side of the slide showed a rendering of a Tesla Diner that looked like a fun place to hang out while your car is charging. We’ve known for a while that Tesla intends to build out some supercharger locations into destinations like this where you can also get food and entertainment.
The other side of the slide, though, showed a rendering of a Model S parked in a garage. Mounted on the wall was a large Tesla-branded charger we haven’t seen before. A black cable can be seen coming out of the bottom of the charger, but it doesn’t reach to the car’s charge port. Instead it travels to the ground and across the floor to what appears to be a large wireless charging pad underneath the Model S.
The idea of wireless charging your EV has been around for a while, but automakers haven’t heavily pursued as it a viable solution for end users. Some fleet customers are trying to make the technology work for zero emission busses, and Genesis is also developing a wireless charging solution for its EVs with a company called WiTricity. If Tesla were to come out with a wireless charger for home use, the Tesla faithful would likely guarantee its widespread adoption instantly.
The main issue with wireless charging, particularly with batteries as large as those in EVs, is that charging speeds are relatively slow compared to wired chargers, particularly DC fast chargers. Tesla’s tease didn’t reveal anything about charging speeds for its solution, but since it appears in a home garage, the speeds would likely be lower than a DC fast charger you’d find at the company’s Superchargers and more in line with Level 2 charging speeds.
What say you? Are you dying for a wireless charging solution in your garage, or is plugging in a cable for a bit faster speed not a big deal?
