Tesla charger cable plugs itself in

Since cars that park themselves are already a reality, what's needed is a charger cable that plugs itself in.

Since cars that park themselves are already a reality, what's needed is a charger cable that plugs itself in.

Published Aug 7, 2015

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San Carlos, California - Before you dismiss this video as creepy science fiction, think again - it's actually very smart.

South African-born Tesla founder Elon Musk has built a reputation for lateral thinking - and he hates wasting scarce resources, which is why he got into building electric cars in the first place.

We're all aware that the next step in battery-car technology will be a plug-in car that doesn't have to be plugged in. That's not as silly as it sounds because it's pretty certain future battery cars will park themselves.

So it's not a matter of laziness but of logistics - the driver simply won't be there to plug in the charger cable when the car comes to rest next to the charging point.

INDUCTIVE CHARGING

Cellphone manufacturers have already tackled the wireless charging scenario with inductive charging pads - simply put the device down on a soft plastic pad with a moulded-in coil carrying a strong current and the induced magnetic field will charge the battery without actually making contact.

The principle has been adapted for battery cars, using huge coils under the garage floor, but there is a snag. It works fine for a low-energy application such as a phone or tablet, but it's very inefficient, so energy losses become unsustainable once we start talking about kilowatts rather than milliwatts.

So Musk thought sideways; since cars that park themselves are already a reality, what's needed is a charger cable that plugs itself in - and here it is - and autonomous charging point, in prototype form.

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