Coinspeaker
Tesla Acquires Germany-based Wireless Charging Startup Wiferion
As electric-vehicle giant Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) pushes further in building its wireless charging tech, the company announced an acquisition of Germany-based wireless charging startup Wiferion.
The news about the acquisition first surfaced in June through reports from German publications. This week, Wiferion officially confirmed the acquisition after publicly filing in Germany. In the filing, Wiferion stated that the company would be selling to Tesla International BV, which is Tesla’s engineering subsidiary based in the Netherlands.
In its public filing, Wiferion noted:
“The shareholders intend to sell their shares in the company to Tesla International BV by means of a purchase agreement”.
The official cost of the acquisition transaction isn’t confirmed, however, it shall be anywhere between $50 million to $100 million.
Wireless charging solves a not-so-big problem. It saves you from the hassle of plugging in your car, which isn’t very hard or time-consuming. However, Tesla has mentioned in the past that they want to automate this task to prepare for self-driving technology. If cars can drive themselves, it would make sense for them to charge themselves without humans needing to plug them in.
Wiferion’s Shift Into Wireless Charging
Last year, Wiferion made a licensing deal with WiTricity, a company that used a Tesla Model 3 to show off their wireless charging technology. This deal allowed Wiferion to enter the US and North American markets.
Several other companies, including WAVE Charging based in the US, have also been working on their own wireless charging platforms for electric vehicles. WAVE Charging plans to create a wireless charging system specifically for the Tesla Semi and other commercial-sized vehicles.
We don’t know exactly when or how Tesla will start using Wiferion’s wireless charging technology. Some reports suggest that the automobile giant could use wireless chargers to charge Tesla’s Optimus robots. These robots are likely to work in the company’s factories starting next year.
However, it’s not clear yet whether Tesla will use the wireless chargers at their Supercharger stations, as home charging equipment, or at other locations. While the wireless equipment can charge vehicles quickly, it might not be as efficient as Tesla’s wired equipment at Superchargers.
Tesla Acquires Germany-based Wireless Charging Startup Wiferion
