Tesla unveils a wireless phone charger…then pulls it from the site

Tesla’s business is in electric cars, but it has a whole sideline in lifestyle thanks to the cachet of the brand and founder Elon Musk. That’s why the Tesla store is packed full of clothes, hats and phone power banks bearing the logo.

Briefly, the store was also home to the pictured wireless charger, but it seems that Tesla has already taken it down. It’s not clear at this point why it went and whether it’ll be coming back, but we’ve put the question to Tesla and will update this piece if we get a response.

This is what you missed if it doesn’t come back: a 6000mAh charger (roughly two phones’ worth, depending on their relative battery sizes), which supports both Qi charging and wired output via USB Type-C. If your phone doesn’t take that input (hi iPhone users), then you can also attach your own USB A cable and charge that way, though it’ll look a little less appealing, obviously.

Related: Best portable chargers

And to be clear, looks are the main benefit here. For the $65 (~£50) Tesla is looking for, you can certainly do better from a technical standpoint. Output from the wireless charging is just 5W, while wired will give you 7.5W – in other words, it won’t be the fastest charging experience around and you’re definitely paying for the logo.

There are cheaper options out there which output at a faster rate, but they also lack the Tesla branding. There are also more expensive options on the horizon: Apple’s upcoming AirPower unit for charging multiple devices is rumoured to be coming in at $149 (~£117), although the technology involved is rumoured to be a bit of a step forward on our current expectations from wireless chargers…

Will you buy the Tesla wireless charger if it returns to the shop? Let us know what you think on Twitter: @TrustedReviews