We discuss decoherence in charge qubits formed by multiple lateral quantum dots in the framework of the spin-boson model and the Born-Markov approximation. We consider the intrinsic decoherence caused by the coupling to bulk phonon modes. Two distinct quantum dot configurations are studied: (i) Three quantum dots in a ring geometry with one excess electron in total and (ii) arrays of quantum dots where the computational basis states form multipole charge configurations. For the three-dot qubit, we demonstrate the possibility of performing one- and two-qubit operations by solely tuning gate voltages. Compared to a previous proposal involving a linear three-dot spin qubit, the three-dot charge qubit allows for less overhead on two-qubit operations. For small interdot tunnel amplitudes, the three-dot qubits have Q factors much higher than those obtained for double-dot systems. The high-multipole dot configurations also show a substantial decrease in decoherence at low operation frequencies when compared to the double-dot qubit. © 2007 The American Physical Society.