General Motors to invest in Powermat technology in its cars

General Motors is planning to introduce wireless charging in few of its car models one of which will be the electric car Chevrolet Volt. The new electric car will be charged through startup Powermat. The same was declared by the auto giant recently. The American auto giant's partner is also expected to invest $5 million into the Powermat.

It is still speculated that the new technology from General Motors Powermat wireless charging will not be introduced for next one and a half year or so. The basic idea is that the auto manufacturer is working with is that the passengers and drivers may charge their gadgets and cell phones as soon as they come in the car and will not have to struggle with the cords. But as the Powermat will use the inductive charging, the gadget had to be placed on the “mat” or “shelf” of the car.

As per the research conducted by In-Stat in October, almost half of the buyers are ready to spend almost $50 for the wireless technology. The research indicated that by 2014 the market for the technology will accelerate to $4.3 billion revenue industry.

In the GigaOM Pro article Stacey states that there are two kinds of inductive wireless power: the first is being sponsored by Wireless Power Consortium which is affixed with Qi logo which delivers power via the magnetic contact in between the gadget and the charging mat. The second is sponsored by Intel and WiTricity which states on the magnetic resonance and also transfer power without the device placing it any where in the car. But this will need an electrical connection from battery or wall.

It is being learnt that the new wireless charging technology may also be promoted in the electric car charging, however GM did not stated it. Though many auto manufacturers are looking forward for electric car wireless charging space. WiTricity has signed a partnership agreement with auto part manufacturer Delphi later in 2010 and the startup Evatran unfolded its “Plugless Power” the electric car charger which will use the “proximity charging” technology to charge the electric cars. It was also heard that Nissan Motors the electric car leader showed earnest interest at the wireless charging of the electric cars. General Motors has shown interest in the in vehicle charging and for that has made an investment of $5 million into the Powermat.

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