Wireless chargers are a waste of energy

A very interesting article by Eric Ravenscraft for OneZero, “Wireless charging is a disaster waiting to happen”, reveals the surprising inefficiency of wireless charging bases for smartphones and other devices, at a time when their use is growing and rumors that some upcoming smartphone models may come without ports or cables.

As the article shows, wireless charging consumes between 39% and 80% more energy than its cable equivalent, energy that is lost as heat. The extent depends on the design of the charger: when the coils in the phone aren’t aligned properly with the coils in the charging pad, an easy enough mistake to make.

Many users might be willing to swap efficiency for convenience or aesthetics, and the extra cost of electricity at the individual level is really very small. But with more than three billion smartphones on the planet, if a change in their design leads to the majority use of wireless chargers, that’s around 50% more energy on average being used than now. This would have a measurable impact on power generation infrastructure at a time when there is increasing pressure to increase efficiency.

This may have been what led Apple to cancel its wireless charging base a few years ago after it had already been announced, and that speculation about the launch of an upcoming, cordless iPhone may be about trying to improve design in that regard. Either way, this is a subject we need to keep an eye on, and we may need to redesign devices to avoid a pointless drain on the world’s energy.

As the saying goes: the devil is often in the detail.

(En espa?ol, aquí)