Wireless charger and see your phone! How I modded Teslas wireless desk charger for the Cybertruck

[cybergriz]

We definitely need better visibility and safe use of the phone with/without FSD. Being able to charge without plugging in is also a must. (Plugging in my phone feels ancient, like I'm using a fax machine or quill pen). Here's a pic of how I modded Teslas wireless desk charger for the CT. This works great. Can see the whole phone in vertical or horizontal orientation. It doesn't slide off the edge, or fly forward during a fast stop. Can give a quick glance to Waze, or a quick button press. FSD treats it just like touchscreen use, so warnings are still available for your safety.

I'd like to see an aftermarket solution like this, but for now here's what I did:

1. Purchase the wireless charger. (I found mine pre-owned on eBay)
2. Run the USB through the mount and Tape the included mount to the back, so the height is correct, and the notch aligns with the rib in the charging area.
3. Cut a piece of material to serve as ledge for the bottom of the charger to keep phone from sliding down.
4. Plug the USB into a rear slot and route alongside the passenger seat

Yeah, it's a hack job but you can't tell when looking at it!

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[seussiii]

Is the stock wireless charger that bad or did you just mod it for the visibility?

 

[cybergriz]

Is the stock wireless charger that bad or did you just mod it for the visibility?

The stock charger performs great, in terms of charging. The Tesla desk charger I used performs just as well with charging. This mod was to improve visibility, and usability of the phone. In the stock charger, you cannot see the lower third of the screen, or tap any buttons down there without picking up the phone. Also, the stock charger has a rib which keeps the phone from laying flat in horizontal orientation.

 

[Chris9702L]

Is the stock wireless charger that bad or did you just mod it for the visibility?

The stock wireless charger sucks. It’s just a phone heater.

 

[rizvend]

We definitely need better visibility and safe use of the phone with/without FSD. Being able to charge without plugging in is also a must. (Plugging in my phone feels ancient, like I'm using a fax machine or quill pen). Here's a pic of how I modded Teslas wireless desk charger for the CT. This works great. Can see the whole phone in vertical or horizontal orientation. It doesn't slide off the edge, or fly forward during a fast stop. Can give a quick glance to Waze, or a quick button press. FSD treats it just like touchscreen use, so warnings are still available for your safety.

I'd like to see an aftermarket solution like this, but for now here's what I did:

1. Purchase the wireless charger. (I found mine pre-owned on eBay)
2. Run the USB through the mount and Tape the included mount to the back, so the height is correct, and the notch aligns with the rib in the charging area.
3. Cut a piece of material to serve as ledge for the bottom of the charger to keep phone from sliding down.
4. Plug the USB into a rear slot and route alongside the passenger seat

Yeah, it's a hack job but you can't tell when looking at it!

What's the sun protection like?

 

[cybergriz]

The stock wireless charger sucks. It’s just a phone heater.

The point of the post was not to start another debate over the stock charger. But there are a few things I considered when making the statement "stock charger performs great" : wireless charging creates heat, thats physics. Not all phones charge and heat up the same while wirelessly charging. I don't know why, but again, probably physics. The stock charger keeps my phone 100q charged, on long trips, while GPS and screen are in use. I'm not sure if the desk charger makes my phone more or less hot, but the performance is the same. I'll see if I can get some temperature readings for you!

 

[cybergriz]

What's the sun protection like?

I don't know what you mean by "sun protection"? If you mean sunlight glare off of the phone, or direct sunlight hitting the phone, I have experienced neither issue with wthe stock charger or the mod. I have about 2,000 miles on the mod, no issues, just improvement.

 

[ThatGuyBo]

The point of the post was not to start another debate over the stock charger. But there are a few things I considered when making the statement "stock charger performs great" : wireless charging creates heat, thats physics. Not all phones charge and heat up the same while wirelessly charging. I don't know why, but again, probably physics. The stock charger keeps my phone 100q charged, on long trips, while GPS and screen are in use. I'm not sure if the desk charger makes my phone more or less hot, but the performance is the same. I'll see if I can get some temperature readings for you!

Coil alignment is the issue creating heat in the CT. Inductive coils are not that complex.

 

[cybergriz]

Coil alignment is the issue creating heat in the CT. Inductive coils are not that complex.

How do you better align the coils? Or is that the complex part? (Asking for ppl who care about the heat)

 

[rizvend]

I don't know what you mean by "sun protection"? If you mean sunlight glare off of the phone, or direct sunlight hitting the phone, I have experienced neither issue with wthe stock charger or the mod. I have about 2,000 miles on the mod, no issues, just improvement.

Glare should not be an issue since focus should still be on the road. Concern is on direct sunlight contributing excessive heat while charging.

 

[cybergriz]

Glare should not be an issue since focus should still be on the road. Concern is on direct sunlight contributing excessive heat while charging.

Thanks for the clarification, used this for a while and no issues at all with the new phone position and sun making additional heat.

 

[TyPope]

How do you better align the coils? Or is that the complex part? (Asking for ppl who care about the heat)

I don't know how others better align the coils but my phone doesn't need better alignment as it charges just fine.

However, my pixel buds are obviously not the intended target for the phone chargers. I found that putting a block that's an inch and a half tall is enough to put the buds into charging location.

That said, I would recommend to people whose phone doesn't charge well to try putting a small object along the bottom of the charge pad to see if that improves positioning. increase it by 1/8" (.5cm) or so and try again...

Pixel 8 Pro has no issues charging.

 

[Brandon708]

If you hit a corner will the phone fly off?

 

[cybercuh]

The stock charger performs great, in terms of charging.

wut? You telling me the newer trucks have updated chargers?

 

[Pops]

wut? You telling me the newer trucks have updated chargers?

Nah I doubt it. I guess for some phones that are just the right size it works well.

In my CT with a Samsung S24 Ultra it charges about 10% an hour and the phone gets very hot. Its useless, I just plug into USB-C and put my phone face down in the wireless charging holder so it wont activate.

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