Wireless Power Consortium Begins Study on Deployment of Public Charging Locations

The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) formed the Infrastructure Applications Group (IAG), a working group designed to drive adoption of Qi wireless charging locations in hotels, restaurants, sporting venues, and other “everyday” locations. It’s not the first time a wireless charging standards group has touted public charging venues -- the Power Matters Alliance (PMA) has promoted its partnership with McDonald’s, Starbucks, Madison Square Garden and Delta Sky Clubs, among others -- but widespread deployment of any public charging stations has been minimal due to practical and political considerations.

"If you're a hotel or a car manufacturer, it’s risky to design wireless charging into your infrastructure,” John Perzow, vice president-market development at WPC, told Consumer Electronics Daily. It’s also expensive, Perzow said, and “you want to know that if somebody puts their phone down in their Toyota Avalon wireless charger two years from now that it’s going to charge.” The WPC has ensured that with Qi, Perzow said, by mandating that anything that the Qi spec does going forward “will always work with the original equipment,” he said. The first Qi spec, was “fundamental and rudimentary” and “very sensitive to placement,” he said, but an old Qi phone could be placed on a next-gen charger a couple of years later “and it would still work,” he said. Qi devices have to be interoperable and backward-compatible, he said, which the WPC is touting as a commitment to furniture makers, hotels and car companies that Qi charging technology is “future-proof.”

That’s especially important as the next generation of Qi chargers - version 1.2 -- add magnetic resonance functionality, a feature that the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) touts in its Rezence spec and a feature that PMA has also adopted for its spec. Magnetic resonance allows more distance between devices and chargers so users don’t have to precisely line up phones with coils when charging a device. It also allows multiple-device charging from a single unit. For furniture in public places or hotels, loosely coupled resonance charging “is probably better,” Perzow said, saying the first resonance charging solutions from WPC will appear in nine months to a year. WPC will continue to support both induction and resonance charging depending on the application, he said. Induction charging is more efficient but the trade-off is the need for precise placement, he said.

First-generation Qi products used “tightly coupled inductive” charging, which Perzow still maintains offers the best charging experience because it’s the most efficient wireless charging method. That approach results in the “least amount of waste and radio frequency interference,” making it ideal for wireless charging in a car where it’s important to avoid interference with a music system and navigation systems, he said. Qi has been chosen by Audi and Mercedes-Benz for wireless charging solutions in 2014 vehicles, according to WPC.

Infrastructure companies not only have to consider future-proofing within a standard but among the competing three standards, Mark Goh, CEO of startup ChargeSpot told us. Before any chain or public venue buys into a technology solution such as wireless charging, “you have to convince people you're with the right standard because furniture in a public space lasts for a while,” Goh said. Rather than choosing between the two most entrenched specifications, Qi and PMA, ChargeSpot will deliver both through a dual-mode transmitter the company is introducing later this month. “Now our partners don’t have to make that decision,” Goh said. He didn’t rule out delivering a three-mode charging solution for commercial customers if A4WP’s Rezence spec gains traction. “We're agnostic to a standard,” Goh said. “We just want to make wireless power work.” A4WP is “cool technology,” but it needs to be tested in commercial spaces, cars and airplanes, he said. WPC and PMA technology has been tested and adopted by phone and accessories makers, he said.

Wireless charging solutions in coffee shops, airports and commercial buildings has been minimal -- Perzow of WPC said there are 36 venues offering the PMA solution. But Goh sees that changing based on more phones coming with the technology either embedded or enabled in phones. ChargeSpot, a startup that entered the market last year, found in its research that the biggest barrier to adoption was people having to use a case for their phone to have wireless charging. “The technology only matured to the point of being viable in handsets in the last couple of years,” and Goh believes it will be “ubiquitous” in the next couple of years. Google Nexus 4, 5 and 7 phones have Qi charging built in, he noted. Some 40 phones now support wireless charging “out of the box,” he said, and those are Qi-based.

Samsung phones are enabled for wireless charging, but the functionality isn’t built into the phones, Goh said. It’s added through a back cover accessory that works via two pins that attach to the phone battery, he said. Phones like the iPhone that are not enabled at all for wireless charging have to get there via a separate case like charging pad/case kits offered by Energizer and Duracell.

Aside from standards issues, venues considering wireless charging need to take into account electrical and safety considerations along with the practical issue of running power to charging mats, Goh noted. “Technically it’s not the easiest thing because you have to meet building codes, safety codes and electrical codes,” he said, “but our engineers have come up with great technology and we're seeing more installations,” he said.