US Patent 11225191 Smart leather with wireless power

A functional vehicle component and related methods include a functional leather assembly fixed over a vehicle component. The functional leather assembly includes a leather sheet, a flexible electronic circuit arranged on a first surface of the leather sheet that faces away from the vehicle component to thereby define an outermost surface of the leather sheet, and including a receiver coil inductively coupled to a transmitter coil on the vehicle component for wirelessly transferring power to the functional leather assembly. Power from a vehicle power source can be wirelessly transferred between the transmitter coil and the receiver coil to power electronic elements of the electronic circuit.