In a revelation that surprises no one, Tesla is working on wireless charging. The company bought a wireless charging company, then sold that company and kept all the engineers. It also hinted at wireless technology during Investor Day in March. However, we now have official confirmation from Tesla.
Franz von Holzhausen's Confirmation
Tesla's wireless EV charging development was officially confirmed in a recent interview with Jay Leno (below). Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla's Chief Designer, explained the project: "Oh, we’re working on the inductive charging. So you don’t need to plug something in at that point. You just pull in your garage, drive over the pad, and you’re charging."
While wireless charging is not new to the EV industry, Tesla's entry into this realm is noteworthy. Several companies, including WAVE and Plugless Power, have explored wireless charging for EVs. However, Tesla's involvement is expected to accelerate the technology's development and adoption.
While only home charging is being considered, the technology could translate to road charging, which now has a pilot program set up in Detroit. The technology behind this advancement involves rubber-coated copper coils embedded beneath the road surface. These coils enable charging for EVs equipped with specialized receivers. The project, a collaboration between the Michigan Department of Transportation, Electreon, and other partners, is limited to vehicles with specific receivers, this technology paves the way for broader applications and integration into the existing EV ecosystem.
Despite the promise of convenience, wireless charging faces challenges, particularly regarding energy efficiency. Converting electricity into a magnetic field and back incurs energy losses, raising concerns about the technology's efficiency compared to traditional plug-in methods. Nevertheless, early reports suggest that Tesla's wireless chargers exhibit remarkable efficiency, potentially addressing these concerns.
The Genesis of the Wireless Charging Concept
Further highlighting Tesla's innovative approach, Rebecca Tinucci, Tesla's Senior Director of Charging Infrastructure, recently named Time Magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders, provided an insightful comment during an Investor Day 2023. With a slide that read Can't Forget to Do Cool S***, she said, "We are Tesla, so we also want to make sure we are continuing to focus on providing really incredible charging experiences." This remark underscored Tesla's commitment to enhancing the EV charging experience, and the slide also showed a Model S parked with what appears to be a charging pad under it.
Tesla's pursuit of this technology was further evidenced by its acquisition and subsequent sale of Wiferion, a European company specializing in wireless EV charging. This strategic move, often called acqui-hiring, allowed Tesla to integrate key Wiferion engineers into its team while divesting the rest of the company.
Introducing wireless charging technology involves significant installation considerations, including the cost and the need for an inductive receiver on the vehicle. Despite these factors, Tesla's move towards wireless charging aligns with the company's vision of a seamless, automated charging solution, especially in the context of self-driving technology. The vision is to one day have cars that drive themselves; now, they may charge themselves, too.
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Another Tesla update has finished rolling out to the fleet and we once again have a list of undocumented features in this update. Tesla update 2025.2 was the first update of the year and it brought along features such as wiper improvements for the Cybertruck, support for the cabin radar, and third-party charger preconditioning.
However, other changes made it into the release as well but weren’t mentioned in the release notes. If you love following Tesla software changes or just want to be aware of all changes in your vehicle, these will help keep you updated.
Autopilot Warnings
Tesla has now carried over some of the updated warnings from FSD to regular Autopilot.
Warnings such as “Autopilot will not brake” when the accelerator pedal is actively pressed and others will now be presented at the top in a translucent rectangle, instead of near the bottom, where they can be easily missed.
Supercharger Notification
Not a Tesla App
After using a Supercharger, your vehicle will now display a notification with the total cost of the charging session. In addition to the cost, the alert will also display the location, total energy added, and the cost per kW/h.
This is a really nice addition as it brings the price of the charging session front and center when it matters most — as soon as you’re done charging. Previously, you could navigate to Controls > Charging to see the cost of charging.
Recommended Tire Pressure
Not a Tesla App
The Tire Pressure card on the Model 3 and Model Y will now show you the recommended tire pressure in the bottom left corner of the card. It continues to display the tire pressure reading for each wheel.
Service Mode
Max Bracco / X
As usual, Service Mode sees several improvements to make serving your vehicle easier.
Brake Burnishing: The Brake Burnish procedure parameters have been updated to reduce the need for coming to almost a complete stop during each cycle.
Legacy Model S and Model X only.
Charge Port Calibration: The charge port door calibration routine (PROC_CP_X_DOOR-SENSOR-CALIBRATION) and charge port latch calibration route (PROC_CP_X_LATCH-CALIBRATION) have been added to the Charging panel. Those routines are required to be run following the replacement of the charge port or charge port door.
All Model 3s and Model Ys.
Signal Viewer Panel: A new Signal Viewer panel is available to monitor multiple signal values live on a graph. If one or more of the signal values is unavailable, the graph will stop updating. To access the new panel, tap Tools > Signal Viewer.
Noise Recording Panel: To improve the user experience, the recording duration has been decreased to 30 seconds, and reliability of the download routine PROC_ICE_X_FETCH-DIAGNOSTIC-AUDIO-RECORDS has been improved.
Cybertruck only.
Next Update
If you want to read about the official changes in this update, check out our release notes for 2025.2.
Tesla has now started pushing software update 2025.8, but it’s currently only going out to a very small segment of vehicles. It’ll soon go out to more owners in larger waves, but if you’re interested in seeing what’s coming take a look at our 2025.8 update release notes and the undocumented features we’re aware of so far.
Tesla has issued a voluntary recall for all Cybertrucks built to date, for an issue with the Cant Rail - the upper trim piece on the sides of the vehicle that sits above the window glass. This is a pretty big deal that it reveals some key information - in fact, it is the Cybertruck’s first full-blown recall that will impact all vehicles.
The Issue
The Cant Rail, being a thin piece of metal attached to a narrow portion of the vehicle, is currently held down by a single bolt and automotive-grade adhesives. Tesla has noted that the adhesives are becoming brittle due to heat and cold cycles over time, resulting in some vehicles having the trim pieces either break or fall off.
This has been an ongoing issue with the Cybertruck - but was previously considered resolved as the issue mostly went away as Tesla improved their adhesive application.
As of March 20th, Tesla issued a voluntary recall to address the problem after conducting an engineering survey to determine a fix.
Tesla Reveals Number of Cybertrucks Sold
Tesla doesn’t break out Cybertruck sales on their earnings report, instead lumping it into an “Other Models” category that includes Model S, Model X, and Semi sales in addition to the Cybertruck. Since Tesla needs to reveal how many Cybertrucks are affected by this issue, this is our first official glimpse into how many Cybertrucks Tesla has sold.
The recall shows that Tesla has sold 46,096 Cybertrucks to date, which is the number of vehicles recalled. An estimated 1% of vehicles (approximately 460) have the defect, and Tesla has had 151 warranty claims to date in relation to the Cant Rail issue, which have already been remedied. As usual, no fatalities, collisions, or other injuries are related to this issue have been noted.
You can review the recall notice here if you’re interested.
The Fix
The fix to this issue is to fully replace the Cant Rail. That means that Tesla will be removing the existing Cant Rail from the vehicle - which is attached with adhesives - and then replacing it with a new part that uses a new structural adhesive that will not face environmental embrittlement, alongside being reinforced with a nut that will clamp the panel to the vehicle’s structure. Tesla will also weld the panel with an interior stud, solidifying the whole assembly.
Overall, it doesn’t sound like it’ll be a quick and easy fix, but it will be a very solid fix that should make sure that no more of these trim pieces fly off.
Wraps and Coatings
Those who have wrapped, coated, or otherwise treated the surface of their Cybertrucks will be in for a bit of a problem with this particular recall. The existing Cant Rail will be entirely removed from the vehicle, and replaced with a new piece, as mentioned above.
Because of this, the old Cant Rail exterior will no longer be on your vehicle - which includes your wrap or coating. When you go in for this recall, you will need to get the Cant Rails on your vehicle re-wrapped or re-coated, at your own expense.
Tesla is not providing reimbursement at this time for wraps or coatings done by third parties. If Tesla has installed your wrap due to a wrap promotion or through the in-house Tesla Wrap Program, you’ll want to confirm with your local service department if they can source and replace the wrap.
At this time, there’s been no official guidance from Tesla on in-house wraps, but we expect that because this is a recall and the wrap is a service from Tesla. Hopefully, we’ll hear something officially soon.
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