Tesla’s Charging Snake and Upcoming V4 Wireless Charging Compatibility

February 26, 2025

By Karan Singh

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The Ride the Lightning podcast recently featured Tesla’s VP of Engineering, Lars Moravy, covering a wide range of topics—including the upcoming Model S and Model X refresh. However, some of the most intriguing details came from his comments on Tesla’s charging technology.

Moravy revisited Tesla’s once-hyped robotic charger snake, which was showcased years ago before quietly fading from the spotlight. He also dropped an interesting remark about wireless charging but didn’t go into detail.

Death of the Charger Snake

When discussing the Charger Snake, Lars had some strong opinions. It was an internal Tesla project that never gained much traction because engineers ultimately felt it wasn’t necessary.

At Superchargers, most people leave their vehicles to grab food, a drink or simply stretch—making manual plugging the vehicle in a non-issue. There was little justification for a complex, maintenance-heavy robotic charger, especially considering the challenges it would face in winter conditions. Just imagine the nightmare of keeping it operational in snow and ice.

But what about autonomous charging? As Tesla moves toward full autonomy, vehicles will need a way to charge without human intervention. And it isn’t like a Robotaxi passenger is going to like the idea of getting out of their vehicle to plug in either - which would ruin the seamless experience.

Wireless Charging and V4 Superchargers

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That’s exactly where Tesla’s wireless charging comes in. We got an early glimpse of its design during the We, Robot autonomy event, where the Cybercab was shown charging wirelessly—without a traditional charging port.

Compared to complex robotic systems for handling charging cables, wireless charging is a far more practical solution. A simple charging mat eliminates the need for moving parts while allowing vehicles to charge without human intervention.

In the future, Supercharger stations will likely support both wired and wireless charging, enabling Cybercab users or owners to charge their vehicles while sleeping, watching video content, or simply relaxing—without ever needing to step outside. Wireless charging may also be cheaper to install than a complete Supercharger stall, which Tesla is now able to install for below $40k per stall.

And here’s the most exciting part. When asked whether wireless charging would require new infrastructure, Lars hinted:

“Could be. But we’re making some smart plays about that with the new V4 Superchargers…”

This suggests that as Tesla expands its V4 Supercharger network, it will include wireless charging capabilities in the upcoming V4 cabinets. While every stall won’t need wireless capabilities, having the ability to add a few wireless chargers per major location will be enough to kickstart Tesla’s Robotaxi network.

Tesla Teases New 7-Seat Model Y

June 12, 2025

By Karan Singh

The third row in the first-generation Model Y

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In a move that’s sure to excite those with larger families, Tesla has started teasing the return of the seven-seat configuration for the Model Y. In a new marketing email sent out to customers recently, Tesla explicitly highlights the vehicle’s spaciousness.

“Ready for anything with long range, seating for up to seven, and enough room for everyone’s gear.”

The seven-seat Model Y was initially offered in late 2021, but it hasn’t been available since Spring 2023. The return of the new variant will be an addition that many have been waiting for, as the next vehicle with that much passenger space in the line-up is the Model X, starting at almost double the price.

First-Gen Model Y Third Row

The original seven-seat Model Y was extremely popular in the Asia-Pacific and European markets, and it still sold fairly well in North America despite differences in preferred vehicle sizing and spaciousness. It offers additional seats for larger families with young children, but space in the third row is minimal.

The seven-seat variant makes the Model Y more competitive against other three-row SUVs on the market. The video below features the seven-seater, first-generation Model Y.

Power Reclining Third Row?

The refreshed Model Y was launched with power-reclining second-row seats, a huge plus for practicality and ease of use. The power-reclining second-row seats are extremely popular with families and are very helpful, as you can control them from the front screen rather than needing to open the rear doors.

Tesla is likely to integrate power-reclining seats into the third row and potentially keep them for the second row as well. With the second row sliding forward and backward for easy entry, as well as allowing the second and third rows to fold flat for additional cargo room when needed.

Launch Date and Price

Tesla’s tease of the seven-seat variant is likely just the start. With recent sightings of the Model Y Performance variant hitting the Nürburgring, it seems Tesla has a lot in store for this summer. If you’ve been waiting for the seven-seat variant, it seems like it’ll be just a few short months away at this rate.

While we haven’t seen any production samples or other details regarding dates yet, Tesla previously priced the seven-seat option at an additional $2,000 USD ($3,000 CAD). The seven-seat option will likely only be available on the Long Range AWD and Long Range RWD variants, not the Performance model, similar to the first-generation Model Y.

Tesla’s First Autonomous Vehicle Delivery to Happen on June 28th

June 12, 2025

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

In Elon’s flurry of posts on X about FSD yesterday, he also revealed the date that another moment of peak science fiction would be occurring — June 28th. Tesla expects to conduct the first-ever self-delivery, where a brand-new Model Y will depart from the production line and arrive directly at its new owner’s home without any human intervention.

Imagine ordering a vehicle, and a few days later, rather than needing to pick it up, it simply arrives in your driveway and notifies you via an app that it has arrived. That’s no longer the talk of science fiction; it is quite literally something that is likely to happen this month.

Expect a Model Y Delivery in Austin

Considering everything Tesla has done so far, we’re fairly certain that the first self-delivered vehicle will be a Model Y in Austin, in the same geo-fenced area where Tesla’s Robotaxi will operate. FSD is highly optimized for the Model Y, and it’ll take some time for those optimizations to trickle down to the rest of the fleet. It’s not clear if FSD performs better on the Model Y because it’s the most popular vehicle and, therefore, Tesla has the most data for it or if Tesla explicitly chose to focus more on their most popular vehicle.

Tentatively, June 22.

We are being super paranoid about safety, so the date could shift.

First Tesla that drives itself from factory end of line all the way to a customer house is June 28.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 11, 2025

Why Self-Delivery?

While a car driving itself is something truly different from what other manufacturers offer, there are also numerous strategic advantages for Tesla to do so. This includes drastically reducing last-mile delivery costs by minimizing the need for car carriers, delivery drivers, and even delivery personnel at your local Tesla center. For customers, it could mean a faster, more flexible delivery method - and one absolutely unforgettable welcome to Tesla ownership.

We recently took a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of vehicles delivering themselves to customers. While it’s all positive for Tesla, there are some potentially negative sides to it as well.

A Futuristic Glimpse

When you step back and look at it, Self-Delivery is a logical extension of Unsupervised FSD and the Robotaxi network in general. Self-deliveries are expected to run on the same software stack that powers the Model Ys currently roaming Austin’s streets autonomously, which means there is little for Tesla to do other than enable specific instructions for self-delivery during the final vehicle configuration steps.

Robotaxis currently run a newer version of FSD than what’s available to the public, but these self-delivered vehicles will likely be on the same version when they’re delivered.

Given Elon’s note that the dates could shift, this could easily be moved to early July; however, either way, it seems like we’re just weeks away from this monumental event, which will further reduce the cost of Tesla vehicles.