Tesla is rumored to acquire a wireless charging company in Freiburg, Germany with charging and power solutions that might help the company. Wiferion has worked with over 100 companies with wireless charging solutions since 2015.
Acquiring a Wireless Charging Company
A startup company based in Germany named Wiferion, known for developing inductive charging solutions for electric vehicles, confirmed through a filing in the German Commercial Register that Tesla International BV is interested to purchase the company. Gründerszene or Business Insider reported that the shareholders intend to sell their shares by means of a purchase agreement.
Without naming names, two of the investors of the company confirmed that an exit had taken place and it is an interested buyer. No confirmation from Tesla or Wiferion was released regarding these rumors but this partnership will open doors to the automaker, making its vehicles offer wireless charging capabilities.
Tesla International BV is a fully-owned subsidiary of the company, operating out of the Netherlands. This report might be connected to the unannounced teaser from the company during the Shareholder Meeting last March, showing a new wireless home charging station along with the ongoing project Tesla Supercharger Diner.
Wiferion was founded in 2016 and developed an inductive charging solution for industrial robots and electric vehicles since then. Around 8,000 chargers were reportedly deployed by the company, primarily for industrial robots, which makes sense for Tesla's acquisitions since it uses many industrial robots in its facilities.
If the deal goes through, the acquisition amount is expected to be in the mid to high double-digital millions of dollars. As of the moment, the startup company has already raised about $16 million to date from previous partnerships and deals.
Aside from Tesla, other companies have also been working on wireless charging for electric vehicles in recent years. However, Electrek reported that the technology has never taken off because of several issues with it. This includes inefficiency compared to cable charging and is more expensive for its embedded charging pad instead for wall-mounting.
Previous Acquisitions
Given that the source came from an official filing, this rumor is solid. Although this does not mean that the deal will continue and close in the future. While the company is considered one of the biggest automakers in the business, the company is not big on acquisitions compared to others, but it has done a few over the years.
Teslarati reported that Tesla has used company acquisitions as an effort to move forward with certain projects in the past. For instance, Tesla acquired Maxwell Technologies in 2019 but eventually sold it two years later. Aside from this, Hibar Systems was also acquired by the company in late 2019.
Despite this, both of the acquired companies were considered groundbreaking moves to help the automaker develop in-house battery cells. These were produced at several of its manufacturing locations or gigafactories, including in California and Texas.
