Tesla opens preorders for a wireless charging mat through its website. According to the website, the device is engineered with FreePower wireless charging technology. The gadget can accommodate up to three devices and comes in a form factor “inspired by the angular design and metallic styling of Cybertruck.”
The gadget is called the Wireless Charging Platform, and it costs $300. For that hefty price, you get the mat, a removable magnetic stand that lets you prop the pad up at an angle or lay it flat, and some tech that we once called “the most promising AirPower alternative.” Underneath the Alcantara fabric cover, Tesla’s charger has a whopping 30 Qi charging coils, which will charge your device no matter what orientation it’s in, or where you put it on the platform.
FreePower was the company that was earlier known as Aira. In 2020 the company’s system was known to be the closest thing to AirPower that one could find. A lot of people have compared the Wireless Charging Platform to Apple’s now-canceled product, and I totally get why. The iPhone maker also promised an accessory that would charge up to three devices at once, no matter where they were on the pad. But that was really only part of what made AirPower so interesting; during its announcement, Apple said you could also use the mat to charge your Apple Watch, and that it and your devices would “intelligently work together and communicate with each other to manage the charging through one more efficient charging system.”
Tesla wireless device
Tesla isn’t promising any of those things. That means you won’t be able to use the platform to charge your Apple, Galaxy, or Pixel Watch since most wearables aren’t compatible with the Qi standard. And Tesla’s page makes no mention of devices being able to communicate to achieve maximum charging efficiency.
It’s debatable whether that last point is that important, though. With a 65W power adapter, and the ability to pump out up to 15W to all three devices, does Tesla need to optimize for efficiency like Apple planned to do in 2018? I don’t think that’d be a make-or-break feature for me, though the smartwatch thing is a big bummer, the whole point of this type of product is to have one place to charge all your devices, and this can’t do that for a lot of people. The divide has an integrated USB-C power cable, which could be a deal breaker for some.
