General Motors plans to offer wireless charging of smartphones in some 2015 model-year Cadillacs.The...

1. Cadillacs to integrate wireless charging for smartphones
General Motors plans to offer wireless charging of smartphones in some 2015 model-year Cadillacs.
The automaker is integrating wireless-charging technology developed in partnership with a supplier
called Powermat, which GM’s venture capital arm funded several years ago.
The first vehicles to get the Powermat capability will be the 2015 Cadillac ATS sedan and coupe.
Toward the end of 2014, the automaker also will make the technology available on the 2015 Cadillac
CTS sedan and the 2015 Cadillac Escalade sport-utility vehicle.
“The plan is to include us into all GM cars,” Powermat CEO Ran Poliakine said in an
interview.
The technology will allow drivers or passengers to charge devices by placing them in a bin behind
the center-console panel that swings up at the touch of a button.
■Video: Cadillac phone charger
GM said devices must be equipped with wireless charging capability to work when placed on
Powermat’s rubberized pad. The system generates an electromagnetic field that charges
batteries. GM said a majority of wirelessly chargeable devices would work with the system.
Users still will be able to use some functions on their phone — like placing and receiving calls
— when their device is connected to the Cadillac User Experience (CUE) infotainment system
through Bluetooth technology.
Powermat, which shifted its headquarters to New York City from Commerce Township, developed
proprietary software for operating the charging device. The hardware is manufactured in Asia.
GM invested $5 million in Powermat in January 2011.
Powermat secured a major customer recently when Starbucks agreed to install the
company’s wireless charging device in its U.S. stores, after a successful pilot program in
Boston and San Jose, Calif. Duracell Powermat, the company’s joint venture with Proctor &
Gamble, sells the device to retail customers.
GM is incorporating the system as the technology industry is debating the future of wireless
charging technologies. Powermat is a member of an association called the Power Matters Alliance
that promotes a specific type of charging system. A competing group called Wireless Power
Consortium is promoting a different format.
Poliakine said both technologies use magnetic induction, suggesting that Powermat can adapt if the
industry settles on the Wireless Power Consortium solution.
“Like every other technology, technologies will evolve over time,” he said.

2. The system’s release in GM’s luxury lineup gives the automaker another selling point
for digitally savvy consumers. The company recently started selling the first models of its 2015
lineup with AT&T’s 4G LTE high-speed Internet connectivity.
“With 4G LTE capability and now wireless charging, Cadillac is embedding conveniences that
have quickly become essential customer needs,” Ken Kornas, Cadillac ATS global product
manager, said in a statement.
Contact Nathan Bomey: 313-223-4743 or nbomey@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter
@NathanBomey.
http://www.freep.com/article/20140728/BUSINESS0101/307280123/1210/business01