Phone charging - wired or wireless?

[MontesDesigns]

I am hoping for at least two usb ports. One for my phone and one for my wife. Do modern cars have the cigarette lighter style outlets? That would be great too.

They gotta have usb ports at the very least, and a 12v cigarette lighter style outlet or a plug at least. Would be unwise not to have those

 

[slatefan53]

Our Mach-E has a wireless charger and IF it works, as others have stated it COOKS the phone. They suck. Buddies Model 3, also, never works consistently. Give me USB ports. I also have one of the last "analog" VW GTI's MK7.5 that has wired Car Play. Works 10/10 times. Every other car we have had with Wireless or modern Infotainment has been a frustrating failure when it comes to consistent operation or more than one user.

 

[Luxrage]

I am hoping for at least two usb ports. One for my phone and one for my wife. Do modern cars have the cigarette lighter style outlets? That would be great too.

They do, they just label them "12V Accessory" now. You have to order the 'smoking package' to get the lighter and cupholder ashtray. I'm hoping Slate will give us access to keyed and constant 12V in the dash for addons and other things we want to add ourselves.

 

[EV Trek]

I make my own custom phone holders for all my vehicles on my 3d printer that holds a cheap $7 wireless charger I buy at 5 below. They work great. I will do the same for the Slate. If they stop working ( so far in 4 years none have quit working) I’ll just buy another wireless charger. Cheap and easy, not like a factory installed one.

 

[r6tn]

I prefer wireless charging. In fact, the phone I bought last year and the previous phone I bought in 2020 both had the USB slot quit working within months so I've been stuck with wireless charging for the past few years. I like magnet mounts, I think there's nothing simpler or more convenient, and if they charge while holding the phone, heck yeah.

I've found you really have to buy components, the charge pad, power source and the USB cable, test them and put together the wireless charging system yourself.

For example, I have a 2017 vehicle with two USB ports. Plugging a wireless charger into them I get charge speeds around 400mA (checked with the Ampere app for Android). That's too slow. At that rate, going from 70 to 100% takes like two hours or something ridiculous. It's useless.

I've found the best setup is to run 12v to a buck converter like this and plug the charger into it.

I've found Lisen Qi chargers work well for me. My phone should work with Qi2 but it constantly connects and reconnects and doesn't really charge with Qi2.

With this buck converter and Qi charger setup, I get a reliable 2000mA charge rate and up to 2500 if I turn it just right. In real world numbers, it's about 1% per minute. The phone gets warm but never hot

I've also added USB ports to my vehicles. I make sure to buy ones with high output. The factory ones just don't cut it. With a USB cable capable of fast charging I can plug a wireless charger into my ports and get similar 2000mA speeds. If you don't want to use a buck convertor, this is a good alternative, you just need to test the USB port and cable.

I have a 45 minute drive to work so I just don't worry about charging my phone, the drive takes care of it. I'm usually close to 100 when I get to work and when I get home. It was at 72% this morning and 100% when I got to work.

I have similar setups at my desk and workbench at home so when I'm working at one of those my phone is charging too. If I watched TV I'd have one there. My goal is basically to never think about charging my phone. I like putting chargers in places where my phone will be so that it just magically charges.

 

[MontesDesigns]

I prefer wireless charging. In fact, the phone I bought last year and the previous phone I bought in 2020 both had the USB slot quit working within months so I've been stuck with wireless charging for the past few years. I like magnet mounts, I think there's nothing simpler or more convenient, and if they charge while holding the phone, heck yeah.

I've found you really have to buy components, the charge pad, power source and the USB cable, test them and put together the wireless charging system yourself.

For example, I have a 2017 vehicle with two USB ports. Plugging a wireless charger into them I get charge speeds around 400mA (checked with the Ampere app for Android). That's too slow. At that rate, going from 70 to 100% takes like two hours or something ridiculous. It's useless.

I've found the best setup is to run 12v to a buck converter like this and plug the charger into it.

I've found Lisen Qi chargers work well for me. My phone should work with Qi2 but it constantly connects and reconnects and doesn't really charge with Qi2.

With this buck converter and Qi charger setup, I get a reliable 2000mA charge rate and up to 2500 if I turn it just right. In real world numbers, it's about 1% per minute. The phone gets warm but never hot

I've also added USB ports to my vehicles. I make sure to buy ones with high output. The factory ones just don't cut it. With a USB cable capable of fast charging I can plug a wireless charger into my ports and get similar 2000mA speeds. If you don't want to use a buck convertor, this is a good alternative, you just need to test the USB port and cable.

I have a 45 minute drive to work so I just don't worry about charging my phone, the drive takes care of it. I'm usually close to 100 when I get to work and when I get home. It was at 72% this morning and 100% when I got to work.

I have similar setups at my desk and workbench at home so when I'm working at one of those my phone is charging too. If I watched TV I'd have one there. My goal is basically to never think about charging my phone. I like putting chargers in places where my phone will be so that it just magically charges.

have you seen Quad Lock Case's wireless charger and phone mount?

https://www.quadlockcase.com/collections/shop-mounts/products/mag-wireless-charging-head

 

[Daemoch]

"Does it come with...."
No. The whole car is marketed at/as/for DIY. So....DIY.

I'll bet good money my phone will not fit whatever bracket it comes with. I'll be lucky if the charger fits the body (no cases available; no point, its a Rugged phone), and even more surprised if it charges it properly (USB-C @ 120w).

The resell markets and discount stores are FLOODED with old chargers and cases and holders. ANYTHING that Slate would offer today would just end up there tomorrow. Just buy an aftermarket product; there will be TONS of them.