Charging a Smartphone While Driving Isn't as Free as You Think

[Proserpina]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-12/charging-a-smartphone-while-driving-isn-t-as-free-as-you-think

It’s not just using a handheld phone while driving that’s a menace to society. It turns out that charging it in the car has consequences too.

That’s because a phone drawing electricity from a USB port cuts 0.03 miles from each gallon of gasoline in a tank. Across the fleet of vehicles in the U.S., that would mean about 970,000 tons of extra planet-warming carbon dioxide a year, according to calculations by Jon Bereisa, a retired General Motors Co. engineering executive who studies vehicle power usage. With a race under way to see how many charging ports automakers can cram into a car, the increased pollution is only going to get worse.



“Do I think we’re at peak USB? No,” said Mary Gustanski, vice president of engineering and program management at Delphi Automotive Plc, which makes wiring and USB ports for vehicles. “We’ll get more and more creative to not only allow you to connect with USB but also to connect wireless. Consumers want their car to be just like their home.”

It’s not just an environmental issue, either. The proliferation of consumer devices, the growth of dashboard touch screens and other technology, and the shrinking size of engines to meet fuel-economy mandates mean the 12-volt automobile electrical system is just about tapped out. Some automakers are already turning to supplemental 48-volt systems in future models.


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[yeoman6987]

1. Goodness. Nothing sacred today.

Don't blame the consumer. If you don't want carbon fix the USB to not make carbon. Until then. What?

[Wilms]

2. Yeah. USB ain't "sacred".

And I'm totally bummed about it.

I would have thought the idea was to help the general public recognize what's going on with the things they use daily. Perhaps they failed.

If everyone with a solar panel on their home used it to charge their phone...rather than their car...there would be a substantial reduction in pollutants expelled.

THAT would be sacred.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. This is silly...

My car gives me 30-35mpg, well over the averages, so I assume it would cost me less than .03mpg to charge my phone. Of course, since I also charge my TomTom, Nook e-reader, another tablet, and two laptops in the car, the phone means little added stress. And, I haven't checked, but running the A/c would use a lot more, and getting stuck in traffic adds even more than that.

All of these have to be charged somewhere, and the car is convenient when I'm working and probably cheaper than the 27cents per KWh I pay the electric company.

I could, of course, put one of those little generators on my bicycle and fly down the road charging everything for free.

[PeoViejo]

7. We live about 3km from a Hydroelectric Dam

..and our rate is just under 7 cents a kwh

Location, locaton.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Any and all electrical devices in a car are gasoline-powered.

Stereo, AC, heater, lights, windshield wipers, defrosters, power seats, etc. etc. all suck power from the rechargable battery, which is only recharged by the alternator which is driven by the engine -- usually, a gas-burning engine.

Only one reason I detest those losermobile "boom box" cars/trucks.

[bvf]

5. How could anyone think something like this

would be free?

Think I'll start that perpetual motion machine business after all.

[Fumesucker]

6. I have a rechargeable lithium power pack I can charge devices from

It's charged off my computer USB and it lasts for months for the occasional time I need to use my portable gadgets longer than the internal battery will carry them. Really handy when you get stuck somewhere you can't charge otherwise.

The overall charge/discharge efficiency of a lithium cell is 99% or so, not much transfer loss so it's almost like charging your phone at home in terms of energy usage. I just put it in my case with all my other gear.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JM59JPG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00

[FrodosPet]

8. How much does daytime running lights use?

Not to mentioned poorly timed stoplights and drive through restaurants?

Warming up the car? What about the heater fan?

A/C uses gas, and so does lowering aerodynamics by lowering the windows.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. I think the take-away is we should just crawl in a hole and die.

just in case

[Proserpina]

10. I think there is that strand of thought

especially about over population and other calamities...as if something slightly less drastic wouldn't do the job than just cowering.

[Mosby]

11. This doesn't make sense

Using more electricity means the alternator will need to charge the battery a bit more but the load the alternator places on the engine is the same regardless.