Engineer Enea: 50 million vehicles to offer wireless device charging by 2020

IN-VEHICLE wireless device charging will change the way consumers interact with their cars, with 50 million vehicles to offer this capability by 2020, claims Juniper Research.

This is in comparison to 2015, which saw four million vehicles offering wireless device charging.

The new report from Juniper Research, Wireless Charging: Opportunities, Applications & Standards 2015-2020, found that the technology will enable a range of new in-vehicle services, such as on-board audio streaming, automatic cockpit drill customisation and context-specific notification filtering.

The report also found over a third of all smartphones shipping in 2020 will have wireless charging capability built in, with more enabled by accessories.  Laptop makers will be looking to harness the technology, with nearly 20 percent of in-use laptops being capable of charging wirelessly by 2020.

With the constant power supply and data exchange enabled by wireless charging, automotive manufacturers will be able to provide software-based services by streaming notifications from phone to dashboard. This would mitigate the need to keep on-board firmware and hardware updated.

A big barrier to adoption of wireless device charging technology has been the lack of established standards. Vehicle makers are hesitant to adopt the technology for fear of buying into a system that will soon be obsolete. In the meantime, some auto-makers have started providing solutions that cater for two main specifications: Qi and A4WP/PMA.

While these hybrid solutions overcome compatibility issues, they also require more complex components than those geared to a single specification, making in-vehicle wireless charging a premium feature thus far.

Another barrier is the lack of awareness on the part of consumers in regards to wireless charging. This is changing as various phone makers start marketing wireless charging as a standard feature -- for example, Samsung's Galaxy S6.

However, most phones continue to be shipped with a wired charger as standard. In particular, Apple has been resistant to implementing wireless charging on its devices. According to Juniper Research, wireless charging will only truly succeed if carriers and phone retailers provide consumers with an option for wireless chargers supplied with new devices, rather than as an additional purchase.