How can a robotaxi charge itself with no plug and no charging arm?

Resonant inductive pads let a parked robotaxi charge across an air gap automatically — built for fleets first, home garages later.

A robotaxi can charge with no plug at all: it parks over a pad in the ground, and power crosses a small air gap by magnetic induction — the same basic idea as a phone on a wireless charger, scaled up for a car. Charging Robotics’ new platform uses resonant inductive transfer: a coil in the pad creates a carefully tuned magnetic field, a matching coil under the vehicle picks that energy up and converts it to charge the battery. Per the company announcement, the system is designed for up to 10 kW and up to 95% efficiency under specified conditions, and it starts and records each session automatically.

Fleets love the idea because a driverless car has no driver to plug it in: no cables to trip over or wear out, no attendants, and vehicles can be stored bumper-to-bumper in tight depots, topping up whenever they park.1. The car aligns itself. Guidance helps the vehicle center over the pad, because alignment is what keeps efficiency high.2.

The session starts on its own. The pad and car identify each other, charging begins, and the session is logged for the fleet operator.3. Know the speed trade-off.

At up to 10 kW, this is steady depot charging, not a rapid road-trip top-up — fast wired DC charging still wins when minutes matter.4. Watch the home angle. If fleet pads prove reliable, the same park-and-charge convenience could reach home garages: drive in, walk away, wake up charged.Pro tip: efficiency figures are quoted under specified conditions — a misaligned car or a larger air gap wastes more energy as heat, so real-world results depend on installation and parking precision.