Brandmotion will ship this month a new wireless Qi phone charging pad for just about any car, which offers a couple of industry firsts.
The pad, which installs in a console or elsewhere in the car as a resting place for the phone, is the first in the aftermarket with three charging coils, said Brandmotion. This allows a greater charging surface area so users need not be precise in where they place their phone.
The new kit allows users to keep their phone in its case, even a rugged case like the OtterBox.
Called the FreedomCharge MAX, it is also the first in the industry with 15 watt charging. This gives an iPhone a 33 percent faster charge and a Samsung phone a 50 percent faster charge than a typical plug in charger.
Triple coil charging is available only on a few vehicles in Europe, said Brandmotion President Jeff Varick. “It really lets you just toss your phone on it. You don’t have to be so exact on where you place your phone on the pad. It’s the first triple coil on the market. Even most OEMs are using one coil,” he said.
In the past, Brandmotion offered vehicle-specific charging pads plus a universal cut-to-size kit. With the new kit, the company eliminated the vehicle specific kits and offers the single universal pad but with templates that dealers can download to match different vehicles.
Initially, 30 templates will be available on the Brandmotion website, and others will be added to the library.
Varick said wireless charging is gaining popularity in new vehicles, and is about to surge in the aftermarket due to wireless CarPlay.
“The new wireless CarPlay systems coming from Kenwood and JVC [joining those from Alpine and Pioneer] make wireless charging an almost must-have accessory. If you talk to Car Toys, they’ll tell you they agree.,” said Varick. “With wireless CarPlay, now you don’t have to plug your phone in, but it will suck a lot of juice out of your phone, so you really want your phone charging in the car and why plug it in if you don’t have to? So it’s an inflection point where everyone is really going to start to push and want wireless charging,” he added.
The FreedomCharge Max is Qi certified and will carry a suggested price of $149.95.
