Just examined that well-designed lift-up charging tray in our Model 3, and there's no question it's thick enough to hold a Qi-type charging coil, or even two. This way you could just place your phone(s) in the charging tray without messing with that little lightning/usb connector if you have a capable phone. As it is now, it's fussy if you have any type of case, and impossible to use if you have a thick case. But that tray is very well made and quite thick. Compared it to my Iottie wireless charging pad and it's definitely thick enough. And of course there's two USB connectors under that tray to supply the power.
I hope Tesla is working on a version that supports wireless charging. But assuming they have about 7,000 higher-priority engineering things to do for the model 3, I think there's a fantastic market for an aftermarket supplier to offer these as a snap-in replacement.
Anyone here have the skills to design such a thing? Maybe Evannex, TSportline, or Abstract Ocean could tackle this? I'd pay $150 or so for a replacement tray with two coils. Best might be 3 coils - two for vertical phones in the places that the current phones would have connected, plus one lower down in the center of the tray for a single phone to lay in the landscape orientation?
Yes, I know we'd lose the direct-connection data capabilities, but with bluetooth connections, the actual functionality that would be lost is really minimal. The advantage of just dropping your phone in there for charging is worth it in my opinion.
Have at it, Tesla entrepreneurs!
I hope Tesla is working on a version that supports wireless charging. But assuming they have about 7,000 higher-priority engineering things to do for the model 3, I think there's a fantastic market for an aftermarket supplier to offer these as a snap-in replacement.
Anyone here have the skills to design such a thing? Maybe Evannex, TSportline, or Abstract Ocean could tackle this? I'd pay $150 or so for a replacement tray with two coils. Best might be 3 coils - two for vertical phones in the places that the current phones would have connected, plus one lower down in the center of the tray for a single phone to lay in the landscape orientation?
Yes, I know we'd lose the direct-connection data capabilities, but with bluetooth connections, the actual functionality that would be lost is really minimal. The advantage of just dropping your phone in there for charging is worth it in my opinion.
Have at it, Tesla entrepreneurs!