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Wireless charging in the subway will soon be possible in Seoul

In terms of technology, the Far East is undoubtedly far ahead of us. A new feature in Seoul’s public transport system makes this clear. It will soon be possible to charge smartphones without a cable in the subways of South Korea’s capital. Special charging pads are to make it possible.

Fair distribution across the entire train

Of course, the entire subway won’t turn into a giant charging pad. Instead, the train manufacturer wants to equip each of its models with eight charging pads. This plan is according to a report by South Korean news agency Yonhap. To ensure that none of the passengers feels at a disadvantage, the train company seems to be paying meticulous attention to a fair distribution across the total of eight carriages. For example, four of the loading spaces are to be located in the two central carriages of the train. Two more pads are then to be located at each of the places intended for wheelchair users. Doesn’t sound like much, does it? Especially when you look at the charging options on European trains, it’s really questionable whether this will allow all passengers with low battery levels to recharge their smartphones.

Modern technology

However, a direct comparison to trains here is a bit unfair. After all, the South Koreans rely on wireless charging options. This means that with a suitable smartphone, you don’t even need a USB cable to charge the battery. Simply placing it on the charging point is enough. The update of the subway fleet in Seoul is scheduled to take place in the course of the year. The new trains will probably first be used on the route to the airport in the South Korean capital. Once the four new subway trains from Woojin Industrial Systems have gained momentum, 20 more models are to be introduced to the city’s public transportation system before the end of the year.

But why is it that almost everyone now owns a smartphone with Qi charging capability, but public transport systems hardly offer this charging option at all? This highlights the huge discrepancy between technological progress in the smartphone sector and the corresponding further development in public transport. If a city like Seoul buys a subway fleet, it cannot be replaced by a new one after just five years. Within this time, however, a lot is already changing in tech sectors such as smartphones. However, the deployment of the upcoming carriages makes it clear that wireless charging is obviously the technology of the future.

In Europe so far only in buses

But charging areas in local public transport are thus by no means exclusive to Asia. Examples can now also be found in our climes. They are being used in Great Britain, for example. For example, the so-called “Skyclass bus” has been traveling through the English city of Manchester for some time. This is equipped with special charging pads. However, the technology is not yet being used on trains in Europe. But it shouldn’t be too much longer before this happens.

Simon Lüthje

I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.

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In terms of technology, the Far East is undoubtedly far ahead of us. A new feature in Seoul’s public transport system makes this clear. It will soon be possible to charge smartphones without a cable in the subways of South Korea’s capital. Special charging pads are to make it possible. Fair distribution across the entire … (Weiterlesen...)

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