Your most expensive charging accessory yet
The Qi Wireless charging standard, as found in many Nokia Lumia handsets, is somewhat beleaguered, as Google elected to create their own standard, and Starbucks endorsed rival Power Matters Alliance.
It seems however that the Wireless Power Consortium, the foundation behind the Qi Standard, will have one hold-out. After evaluating competing standards by Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP®), the Power Matters Alliance (PMA®), and the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC®) with its Qi® standard, the Consumer Electronics for Automotive association (CE4A) has decided to endorse the Qi Standard.
CE4A is a working group of automobile manufacturers founded in 2006 for the purpose of advancing the standardization of mobile device interfaces. German carmakers like Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen contribute to CE4A, which operates under the umbrella of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA).
Daimler is a founder member of CE4A and directs one of the eight CE4A expert groups. The Daimler company has already agreed to start installing Qi wireless chargers in their 2014 Mercedes models, likely in the arm rest or glove box.
Qi is a standard from the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) and currently represents more than 150 companies. Hopefully we will see many more car companies joining the consortium and making it easy to keep our phones topped up without using a proprietary connector.
Via WPD