Wireless charging makes sense does make sense in the car for sure, specially when there is a specific location to place the phone as in the Model 3. However, I do still carry a 12 V USB fast charger. There have been times I am going to the airport for a trip at 5 am (which I tend to do a lot) and realized my phone wasn't plugged in overnight or the charger cable got kicked out by the kids or the vacuum cleaner. Fast charging has saved my butt, so that is my backup now in the Model 3, since wireless charging is not fast enough. I keep the 12V USB charger unplugged to minimize any phantom Model 3 battery drain.
To install this simple mod to support wireless charging for the Model 3, I order this TapTes Wireless Charging Pad from amazon with ran about $35 with a coupon. It was a good deal.
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| TesTap Wireless Charging Pad installed with Pixel 4 charging, |
The installation was super simple....
First off the kit is very neat and includes everything needed to a nice clean install. There is a different model from TesTap for XL phones, which allows a big phone to be placed horizontally. The normal size phone allows for 2 phones to be charged simultaneously. It comes with a USB splitting Y-cable which allows for ports to allow another USB device in each port. This is especially useful when using both ports for wireless charging and a still support a TeslaCam/Sentry USB drive. I also like the light that the charging pad displays when the phone is placed properly.
Removing the existing phone rest pad and USB cable is quick, see my other post about installing a USB-C charge cable.
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| Cut and place the double sided 3M sticky tape like so. |
Once the pad has been remove simply run the new cables through the holes and place the new wireless charging pad in place first. The TesTap pad does not have the matching back surface to the stock pad with the protrusions to go into the various holes. Also, because the wireless pad is slightly thicker, it is helpful to use the provided 3M double sided tape to secure it down.
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| Wireless pad with cables run and position of double sided tape. |
The tap allows for nice firm installation which is still removal-able in the future.
Furthurmore, what I ended up doing was on the driver's side USB port was plugging in the wireless pad directly into the USB slot without the Y-cable. Conversely, on the passengers side USB port left the TeslaCam/Sentry device plugged in directly for optimal connectivity, reduced resistance and reduced failure of recording to due to cables failing. However, I kept the Y-cable splitter attached and dangling in there.
Furthurmore, what I ended up doing was on the driver's side USB port was plugging in the wireless pad directly into the USB slot without the Y-cable. Conversely, on the passengers side USB port left the TeslaCam/Sentry device plugged in directly for optimal connectivity, reduced resistance and reduced failure of recording to due to cables failing. However, I kept the Y-cable splitter attached and dangling in there.
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| Drivers Side plugged in directly, Passengers side free. |
The way if I need to use both sides of the wireless pads, like when we go on family trips since my wife had a Pixel 4 as well, we can simultaneously wireless charge. I can either swap phones every so often during a long trip and use one wireless pad side or I can simply plug in the Y-splitter into the USB port and the USB drive into the free end of the Y-cable. It is also important to note that the the thicker side of the Y-splitter should be used for the USB drive otherwise TeslaCam/Sentry will not work properly. This was another indication to me to avoid extra resistance introduced by extra cables and not worth it for daily driving when I only need 1 wireless charger.
This was a quick, useful and easy mod. Hope you benefit from it if you have a phone that supports it.