Tesla is preparing to unveil its fully autonomous Robotaxi on October 10 at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. This event was originally scheduled for August but was postponed to allow for a design change and to showcase additional features.
Elon Musk hinted that Tesla would reveal some exciting new developments alongside the Robotaxi.
One of these potential innovations may have been uncovered through a recently filed patent. Tesla submitted a patent titled “Parameter Estimation for Wireless Charging,” which points to the company’s plan to incorporate wireless charging technology for its Robotaxi fleet.
Wireless charging would make sense for Tesla’s Robotaxi, as these fully autonomous vehicles need to be self-sufficient. Instead of relying on human intervention to plug the car in, the Robotaxi could pull into a garage or charging station equipped with a wireless charging pad on the floor. As long as the vehicle has an induction coil, it can recharge without anyone needing to connect a charger manually.
Tesla has toyed with various autonomous charging solutions in the past, including a robotic “snake charger” that could automatically plug into the vehicle. However, with the introduction of the wireless charging pad, teased earlier in 2023, this option seems to have taken a backseat.
Further fueling the speculation, Tesla acquired Wiferion, a company specializing in wireless power solutions, in July 2023. Although Tesla later sold Wiferion, it retained many of the company’s engineers, suggesting that it’s still pursuing wireless charging technology for its future vehicles.
This new patent indicates that Tesla is not only focused on making the Robotaxi autonomous in terms of driving but also fully independent when it comes to recharging. While it’s clear this technology is being developed for the Robotaxi, it could eventually be rolled out for other Tesla vehicles in the future.