What is wireless charging in cars?

Wireless charging is a convenience feature which makes it easy to charge your phone in your car.

Instead of having to carry a cable around with you, wireless charging means your phone can charge, well, wirelessly, the minute you put it on the charging pad. You don't need to fiddle about plugging in cables and there are no cables to make your car's interior look messy. 

What is wireless phone charging and how does it work

Wireless  (also know as inductive) charging might seem like the stuff of witchcraft, but the technology has been with us since the 1990s – that plinth you stick your electric toothbrush on to magically charge over night, yep, it's a wireless charger.

For your phone to charge wirelessly in your car, both it and the wireless pad need to contain induction coils – basically iron wrapped in copper wire. When the coils get close to each other – i.e you stick your phone on your car's wireless charging pad – the proximity of the coils allows for a electromagnetic field to be created, which allows for electricity to be passed from one coil (in the charging pad) to another (in your phone). The induction coil in your phone then transfers that conducted electricity to its battery and – hey presto – it charges.  

What are the benefits of wireless charging?

Pure convenience. If your car has a wireless charging pad and your phone can charge wirelessly, it means you no longer need to carry a cable around with you to charge your phone in your car. It's also more aesthetically pleasing to leave your phone sitting neatly without having cables trailing all over the place. 

What are the downsides of wireless charging?

A major downside of wireless charging is that it is much slower than charging with a cable – it'll take twice as long to charge your phone, if not longer. The other drawback is that if you use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, you may still need a cable to transfer the data from your phone to your car. Many cars still require a cable, although newer cars like the 2021 Nissan Qashqai offers wireless Apple CarPlay and you can expect that Android Auto wireless will soon feature on a variety of models too. 

Will my phone heat up during wireless charging?

Yes, the energy transfer might cause your phone to heat up, but it shouldn't be any more than when it heats up using a cable. If it gets really hot then stop using it, there's probably something wrong.