Let’s all just be honest about wireless chargers in cars: most of them suck. Yes, more recently they’ve gotten better, but for far too long they were complete hot garbage. You’d throw your phone onto the pad, the charge-indicator light would blink because your phone wasn’t perfectly placed, and once you broke out your surgeon’s gloves and tweezers to precisely place your phone exactly where it needed to be, you might get 10% charge over an hour.
During this era of horrible wireless chargers — an era I’m going to just say spans from 2015 to 2022, even though I’m mostly just pulling that out of my arse — two vehicles offered the very worst wireless charging experience: The BMW i3 and the Mini Cooper.
I know this because I own a fully-loaded (sans moonroof) BMW i3, and its wireless charger is a useless waste of space, and I cannot believe someone paid $600 for it. Allow me to explain.
It’s Located In The Armrest
I know we shouldn’t look at our phones while driving, and that a phone being in an armrest shouldn’t be a big deal since Apple Carplay projects the phone onto a screen. But let’s all just be real: Sometimes you want access to your phone when you’re in your car, and that’s especially true if you don’t have an iPhone.
See, the BMW i3 never came with Android Auto, so if you want to charge your Android phone wirelessly, but you want to use Google Maps to guide you somewhere (for example), you’re stuck having to listen to the guidance because that screen will be tucked away in that armrest. It’s a dumb place for a phone charger; I almost always leave my phone behind after I park.
Most Phones Don’t Fit
The bigger issue is that the phone charger doesn’t even fit he majority of modern phones! Above is a Google Pixel 6 — not even the Pro, just the regular Pixel, which is a modest 6.2 inches tall and 2.9 inches wide:
And above is my wife’s iPhone 14, which is just 5.8 inches tall and 2.8 inches wide — it has a totally normal-sized case on it, and because of the case, her phone doesn’t fit the charger.
If you Have A Case, You Can Forget About It
It’s not even just the issue of length that makes charging impossible, it’s thickness. If you have any case — even my thin clear one shown here — the phone probably won’t charge. Mine does sometimes, but again, it has to be perfectly placed.
Maybe if I use a magsafe case it’ll be better, but all of my wireless chargers at home work totally fine with my existing case, and my i3’s just doesn’t.
The Phone Has To Be Perfectly Placed Or It Won’t Charge
Check out the video above and you’ll see what I’m dealing with. My iPhone 15 only fits because it has that thin clear case, and even with that, the phone charges intermittently.
When I’m using Carplay, I’ll see the lightning symbol on my battery, then it will go away, then I’ll see the lightning symbol, then it will disappear, then it comes back, then it’s gone, etc etc. It drives me crazy!
Even If The Phone Charges, It’s Slow And Gets Insanely Hot
See the vents on the side of the armrest? Those are there because a small fan provides ventilation for the phone on the charger. This fan adds an extra potential failure mode that I frankly don’t want, and also: It’s just not very good. If I even get my phone to charge, when I pick it up it is scalding hot.
It’s So Bad, People Just Delete It To Get The Tiny Cubby Back
Check out online forums, and you’ll see complaints all day about BMW i3 (and Mini Coopers, since they share numerous components) phone chargers. “Anyone remove the wireless charger from the armrests?” reads one Reddit post by a user named Sea-Presentation5686.
From that post:
I hate the wireless armrest charger for all the reasons, slow, too small, stupid location. I’ve since removed it and ordered the non-wireless rubber bottom piece but it doesn’t fit. Does anyone know what OEM parts or maybe they want to trade with me (in USA) for the wireless charger? I just want some storage space.
Man that person sounds frustrated, and I get it! Here’s what they want instead of their wireless charger — just a small empty armrest bin:
Yes, the wireless charger is so bad, this person would rather have a tiny storage bin. And it’s not just Sea-Presentation5686, it’s also a user named UrbanExtant, who was “bummed” to find out that their car came with a wireless charger:
“It’s been completely unusable,” writes UrbanExtant. “After the report that the wireless charger was frying iPhone 15 models, he stopped using it.” UrbanExtant goes on to ask questions about what it would take to remove the wireless charger. (For reference, this person is referencing an issue spelled out in “Apple says BMW wireless chargers really are messing with iPhone 15s” by The Verge).
Then there’s the Reddit thread titled “Has anyone found a solution to the wireless charger (armrest) not accommodating a larger phone without needing a 3D printer?” and there’s “Useless wireless charger” which reads:
Anyway i can remove this wireless charger in the center armrest and utilize the space instead? Do i have to completely swap out the armrest?
Plus there are plenty of threads on Mini forums:
The good news is that there is a solution, at least to the size issue. It turns out folks are 3-D printing little extenders that replace the original bracket. The downside is that 1. It’s not free and should have come with this from the factory and more importantly 2. It looks like a pain in the ass to install:
How BMW screwed up this wireless charger this badly — so badly that people are replacing it with a tiny storage bin — is beyond me.
The very first “mod” I did to out new (to us) Toyota was to tear apart the center console and unplug the wireless charger. It barely worked, at best it was a phone heater more than a charger.
But the most damning issue was the lack of a switch to turn it off. Meaning you couldn’t store anything else (keys, garage access card, loose change) in the cubby without freaking out the wireless charger.
There is exactly one situation in which I’ve found wireless charging to be OK to use. Overnight on my bedside table on a vertical stand so I can see my phone if I need to.
It’s fine that it takes forever because it’ll be on the charger all night with the white noise generator running.
In day-to-day use, wireless charging is barely usable, and that’s WITH a quality wireless charger. The ones in cars are not that. So they’re not at all usable.
It’s a good idea that has never ever worked, and they need to just give up on it at this point.
The wireless chargers are terrible in my Mazda’s as well. The pad is too big so the phone just slides around and of course it then misses and stops charging. IF it does charge, then it’s just making the phone hot instead of actually charging. So I just plug in if need me. Only wireless charging I do is overnight on my nightstand.
I thought we’d all pretty much agreed wireless charging was “not ready for prime time”?
This remind me of the old chestnut about NASA and the space pen the spent millions of dollars developing so it’d work in zero gravity, and the story ends by saying “the Russians, when faced with the same problem, used a pencil”. Sometimes just using what exists and is proven to work well is better than jumping through so many hoops.
IDK, maybe Im wrong. but I cant help but think so many heat cycles cant be good for the battery
About that NASA pen https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-nasa-spen/
That was an interesting article. Thanks for sharing it.
NASA did not want to use pencils because they are flammable and the lead/graphite dust could negatively affect electronics.
Read the link posted by Lotsofchops.
Wireless charging works just fine, and eliminates what is statistically (after shattered screens) the number one killer of junked phones, busted charging ports.
When it is implemented by complete idiots however…
Huh, ive never owned a phone capable of wireless charging or a car with the option. I will store this information for later use, unless of course they invent a new way to charge phones in the meantime.
Still waiting for the day phones have motion charging technology.
I always thought that wireless chargers were all pretty terrible, as all the rental cars I’ve had with them just overheat my phone and barely charged, just like you described.
When I visit the US, I usually get to drive my relatives’ 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid. The wireless charger in that is great!
My Pixel 8 Pro in a case (and 6 Pro previously) fits perfectly, and it consistently charges fast enough to overcome the battery drain from using Google Maps, plus the phone doesn’t seem to get too hot.
The charger itself doesn’t look like they’ve done anything special, but it really works very well.
We are talking about the company that runs coolant lines through the alternator bracket, for new and different leaks. This sort of thing makes me glad I drive more plebeian vehicles that use a USB cable and a convenient niche
In my experience wireless charging just sucks everywhere, in cars or in the house. It’s slow, inefficient, and generates heat more than anything else. My last phone’s charging port broke so I could only use wireless charging and it’d always take two to three times as long as just plugging it in used to.
I’m fine with using a cable and a little adapter in the “cigarette lighter” socket. I’m not an electrical engineer but I never thought wireless charging could be anywhere near as efficient as wired.
My Toyota phone heater is worse. They don’t even put a fan there.
MagSafe chargers can also suck, I have one as an add on in my Si, and I’ve gone back to just plugging in the USB-C cable from the charger directly into my phone and just using the charger as an expensive phone mount. The mag safe barely budges the charge, and yeah the phone gets insanely hot while using it. I have a different one in my LX and it works much better. Should have gotten that one again.
You see that little nub with the charging light?
They could have given that an interchangable plug (lightning, USB C, etc). Made it wired charging. Made it spring-loaded and adjustable front to back.
And thus future-proofed it to some extent.
I bet you could take a Dremel and fit an IKEA wireless charger in the empty compartment without too much trouble, and it’d work better.
I tried to use the wireless charger in my Prius. I stream the internet version of my local radion station (KVMR) on my long drives. But the power provided by the charger is not enough to overcome the power needed to connect to the cell towers and the BT in the car. So, the battery was depleted while being charger. So, I just plug it in now and the charger is just a horizontal space for stuff. I don’t expect the power available will ever be enough.
I’ve always hated how hot phones get from wireless charging. If my phone needs a charge I plug it in. It’s not hard. I cringe whenever someone complains about a car not having wireless charging. I usually place my phone face down so it doesn’t charge.
My WL Grand Cherokee doesn’t have a charger. It has a small phone BBQ.
Yeah. That really sucks. Some tech just makes its way into cars too early and then doesn’t get updated soon enough. 2021 seems crazy for the space to be too small for the phone, though. The Max iPhones, Pixel XLs and Samsung Galaxy Notes had all existed for a while at that point.
That said, I do like that it’s put away in the console, but if its in the console anyway, who really cares if it’s wireless. Still, it keeps you from looking at it while driving (ideally) and if you forget it, no one can see it there.
Same for the Kia EV9. Luckily you can disable it so your phone can at least sit there and not fry.
I also bought a clear case for my iPhone to showcase the hella cracked glass on the back of the phone. Literally bought the case to keep glass shards out of my hand.
eh, I know it is a one liner, but I do wonder how the new Charger Car would have been received had they made it with the EREV V6 standard(lowest price – 40K), full electric as mid priced, albeit probably faster than a hellcat and then offered a V8 Hellephant in this new body style. 1000 hp gas would be a strong halo for them and they had clean slate design options to handle it all.
I find the whole thing where Car manufacturers are trying to accommodate phones is being completely misguided. The phone form factors and charging change all the time. My 88 cabriolet has a pioneer head unit that has a really old cable on it and is useless unless I use an IPod touch. My new to me 2010 sport wagon has a USB A connector and I can use whatever cable I want and it has CarPlay and android and works just fine. I think that is the way. Providing wireless charging is a fools errand, especially with a dedicated space. I remember as an audiovisual guy installing different digital media players that had docks on them and sometimes they were out of date two months after they were installed, because Apple changed the connector
The charger on the ID4 is good. It’s like this little clip you slide your phone into. It doesn’t matter how big and bulky your case is. Best part is it actually charges your phone and not try to turn it into a mini sun.
Excellent then
It must help with sales, or they think it does, because they’d gladly save a couple bucks per car to get rid of it otherwise. It’s a marketing piece at this point as not enough people have realized how bad they are. And it’s not like you’ll notice it overheating your phone that much on a short test drive I bet.
It is marketing. You don’t notice until it doesn’t really work great. I work in commercial Audio Visual (formerly known as AV) and the av may be a bad design, but doesn’t get attention until someone realizes its bad. It oftentimes is the point of the room/space