Wireless charging technology has come a long way in recent years, especially for mobile phones. It’s still not available for electric cars, but some of the biggest companies working on the tech are making major changes that could bring it to market.
WiTricity, one of the highest-profile startups in EV charging, is shifting its focus to electric golf carts and “neighborhood electric vehicles,” or carts used for off-course transport. The company also named a new CEO, Joe Benz, and moved its headquarters from Massachusetts to Georgia.
The company currently offers one wireless charger for golf carts, the WiTricity MR/1. It’s “being carried by at least three major US-based companies,” a spokesperson tells us. “We brought it to market due to overwhelming demand after talking with cart owners and manufacturers. The shift to electric powered vehicles in this market segment is happening much faster than in the passenger car segment and we are excited to serve this market.”
The MR/1 is “a derivative” of the prototype EV charging tech we covered in 2024, which powered up a Ford Mustang Mach-E with no significant loss in energy compared to plug-in home chargers, a common critique of wireless charging.
Rendering of a golf cart parking over a wireless charging pad. (Credit: WiTricity)
WiTricity is still developing charging pads for passenger vehicles. In the past, it’s reportedly prototyped with major brands like BMW, Toyota, and Hyundai. Lately, its sights are set on wireless charging for commercial and autonomous vehicles. “A vehicle is not truly ‘autonomous’ if it requires human intervention for charging,” WiTricity says. (Tesla has a similar idea—more on that below.) Wireless charging could also facilitate the adoption of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, where EVs act as mobile power grids.
It’s hard to say what the evolving strategy portends for EV drivers hoping to get their hands on the tech soon. It could help popularize and improve it in real-world conditions, but also suggests longer, uncertain timelines for using it on full-size vehicles. Luckily, wireless charging is a “nice to have” at this point and not essential.
Tesla Accelerates Its Wireless Charging, With More Details Likely Coming in 2025
Tesla’s growing focus on wireless EV charging could accelerate timelines for everyday drivers. At the robotaxi reveal event in October, CEO Elon Musk said the company’s fully autonomous vehicles would have wireless charging, or inductive charging, as he referred to it: “That’s kind of how it should be. It’s really high time we did this,” Musk said.
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A week later, the company tweeted a video of its wireless charging pad prototype, which looks similar to WiTricity’s solution. It goes on the ground and the car drives over it. Ironically, Tesla’s wireless charging history starts with WiTricity, which licensed its intellectual property to Wiferon, the German wireless EV charging supplier that Tesla acquired in July 2023.
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Tesla’s robotaxi business kicks off in June in Austin with existing Model 3 and Y EVs, though we don’t expect to see any wireless charging pads in the beginning.
Tesla is exploring wireless charging solutions for its next-gen V4 Superchargers. Its VP of engineering, Lars Moravy, hinted at “more interesting charging paths that we’ll launch shortly,” in a February interview with the Ride the Lightning podcast. “Why would you have a plug? Isn’t there a different way to charge?” he says to the host, who questions whether installing charging pads would be an infrastructure challenge. “Could be. But we’re making some smart plays about that with the new V4 Supechargers,” Moravy responds.
That’s all we know for now. Photos of the V4 Superchargers do not show any wireless charging features, but perhaps they have some hidden components that could beam electricity to future vehicles equipped with a receiver. We may hear more as Tesla deploys the first V4 chargers.
Tesla V4 Superchargers (Credit: Tesla)
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This article was published by WTVG on 2025-04-15 13:40:00
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