Chevy Volt First In Line For Powermat Mobile Device Wireless Charge Pad

Soon you will be able to do away with those pesky charging cables for all your portable devices when driving as Powermat, a pioneer in wireless charging technology, is developing new technology that will essentially turn your car into a charging port for your mobile phone, MP3 player or handheld gaming device.

Cars of the future will feature a small pad or shelf where you simply place your portable device and charge it automatically while you commute to work, run errands or as you’re driving on a family vacation.

Powermat has just received $5 million from GM Ventures, General Motors’ venture capital subsidiary, to help accelerate the technology’s development and support efforts to grow Powermat’s business globally.

GM hopes to launch the wireless charging pad in its cars by the middle of 2012 and the first in line to receive it is likely to be the Chevrolet Volt. The decision to pick the Volt is entirely fitting as one of the original design goals for the range-extended electric car was to revolutionize every aspect of the automobile, not just the propulsion system.

The only downside is that a small portion of the Volt’s electric-only driving range will be reduced if too many portable devices are charged while on the move. 

[GM via AllCarTech]