Yesterday it was announced that Cadillac will begin to offer Powermat, a wireless phone charging system, on its vehicles starting with the 2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe and Sedan. The Powermat is located behind the motorized center instrument panel faceplate in the car and allows users to simply place their phone on it to receive a charge – no worrying about whether or not there is a USB port and no fiddling with tangled wires. However Wired has pointed out a small flaw with the advanced system.
No actual phone manufacturers have integrated Powermat charging capabilities into their devices. That means that the only way to use the Powermat in the ATS is to buy a $120 ‘PowerCase’, which also comes with a reserve battery for your cell phone. In response to this, Powermat says wireless charging capabilities are like Wi-Fi, “which was once an accessory but is now built-in and widely available.” So while your phone now may not be Powermat capable, in the future, almost all will.
Cadillac’s charging pad won’t work exclusively with Powermat, either. Another wireless charging system, Qi, is already built into certain Android-based phones and will work with the Powermat in the ATS.
“The language on our site is tilted towards Powermat,” Cadillac rep David Caldwell told Wired. “(But) we wanted to make sure we didn’t lock out other people.”
Powermat will also appear on the redesigned Cadillac CTS and Escalade by the end of the year, so let’s hope some phone companies start to integrate the technology into their products.
Comments
You sure this isn’t directly compatible with Android and Windows phones, like the Nexus?
This title is flawed. It should read “Cadillac’s Wireless Phone Charging Works With Most Enabled Phones”
The point here is Cadillac DID NOT act stupid and supported both Qi and Powermat – which most DO NOT.
The title of this article neglects to acknowledge GM’s insight and instead focuses on a problem that is the wireless industry’s, not the automotive industry’s.
@Andrew – Any Nexus phone with wireless charging, will work. The Nexus 7 uses Qi too, but I’m not sure if it will fit in the slot on the center console.
Clarification: The original Nexus 7 does not support wireless charging. The current-gen (FHD) Nexus 7 supports Qi charging. Yes, I got emails – as an owner of both I should have mentioned this.
This is also a case where the technology has to start some where. GM has taken the lead here and this will work with many phones but not all. In time others will join in and offer systems that will work with it.
GM is too late. My phone lasts all day. WHy do I need to charge it in my car?
It’s better to install a Qi based wireless car charger that is compatible with most of the Smartphones like Nexus 4. Nexus 5, Nexus 7 and other qi enabled Smartphones and tablets. Even I have wireless car charger dock with suction mount and air vent mount that I purchased from Amazon
www .amazon.com/dp/B00F5XPCSC/
to keep the devices fully charged even on the go.
Make it work with Samsung and Apple and you have 90% of the market covered.
Those companies are the ones who have to equip their phones appropriately. Not the other way around.
Samsung supports the “Qi” standard, and you can buy the transmitter base and receiver (in a new back cover) for the Galaxy S4 and S5 at any Best Buy store. But yo can buy the base and receiver at eBay for less (I paid $30 for a set with two receivers). The transmitter base operates on 5 volts from a USB port, so any vehicle with a USB charge port (or a 12 V to 5 V charger) can install a base and charge their smartphones.
Doesn’t it feel good to see GM taking the lead at something for once?…..
Yep! GM Authority really needs to correct the headline. It’s very misleading.
I agree that being compatible with the two most common charging systems (Qi and Powermat) is not a flaw, it’s just negative journalism. My Motorola Droid Maxx uses Qi, and I love wireless charging, with my car had it!
Saying that it’s not compatible with most phones is misleading as well – no system can be compatible with a phone that doesn’t have wireless charging built in. It is, however, compatible with most phones that have wireless capability, and Powermat makes it possible to add it to those that don’t have the feature, so I don’t know how it could be even more compatible with any wireless charging option.
I have a Note 5 that supports both charging systems, Qi and PMA but doesn’t work in my 2016 GMC Sierra. GMC has more work to do as for wireless charging