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MagSafe Retrofit using Tesla’s Wireless Charger

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Update: Received Car Charger from Amazon, pretty cool little charger for those that just want a USB C car charger goes all the way into the port. Only annoying thing is the little blue light..

I ran the wire behind this little area (see photo) so it’s in line with the charger versus the provided track for normal items plugged into that spot. Allows the rubber to seat properly with no issues..

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Great write up. I just did this project today and a couple of observations:

  • Works without a case or Apple's Silicone case (Haven't tried Apple Leather case yet)
  • Does not work with the Nomad Magsafe Rugged Case. I would imagine, it's just too thick.
  • I ran a charge test and I was getting around 8.65w. I was using an extension cord and 20w Apple adapter as I await my Amazon cig light USB-C. Unfortunately I never did a charge test with the Qi charger, but I tried another one in my house and my iPhone 12 Pro was only getting 3.65. I also tried another Magsafe charger in the house and got 8.59w and 12w, so the car isn't producing any worse results.
 
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Great write up. I just did this project today and a couple of observations:

  • Works without a case or Apple's Silicone case (Haven't tried Apple Leather case yet)
  • Does not work with the Nomad Magsafe Rugged Case. I would imagine, it's just too thick.
  • I ran a charge test and I was getting around 8.65w. I was using an extension cord and 20w Apple adapter as I await my Amazon cig light USB-C. Unfortunately I never did a charge test with the Qi charger, but I tried another one in my house and my iPhone 12 Pro was only getting 3.65. I also tried another Magsafe charger in the house and got 8.59w and 12w, so the car isn't producing any worse results.
Thanks for the numbers, pretty big difference between 3.65 and 8.65. I do remember seeing somewhere that MCU2 would put out 7.5w with standard Tesla wireless charger.. Never tested; so I’m not too sure, maybe it’s a placebo but the MagSafe definitely charges faster to me.
 
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I wanted to share these results using the Amperes iOS app.

You can see regardless of USB-C, Magsafe or Lightning wired or Tesla modified Magsafe, speeds aren’t great when using either the Tesla USB-A ports or the Auxkey USB-C charger. I question whether doing this Magsafe upgrade over leaving the built in Qi charging is really worth the effort. When using a Magsafe charger with Apple’s 20w Wall charger, I’ll get 8-12w. (Most bottom result is an example of that).


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I wanted to share these results using the Amperes iOS app.

You can see regardless of USB-C, Magsafe or Lightning wired or Tesla modified Magsafe, speeds aren’t great when using either the Tesla USB-A ports or the Auxkey USB-C charger. I question whether doing this Magsafe upgrade over leaving the built in Qi charging is really worth the effort. When using a Magsafe charger with Apple’s 20w Wall charger, I’ll get 8-12w. (Most bottom result is an example of that).


View attachment 640790
From the manual: The Model S inductive phone charger can charge your Qi-enabled smartphone at up to 7.5W of power.

This is using the tesla USB-A.
 
I wanted to share these results using the Amperes iOS app.

You can see regardless of USB-C, Magsafe or Lightning wired or Tesla modified Magsafe, speeds aren’t great when using either the Tesla USB-A ports or the Auxkey USB-C charger. I question whether doing this Magsafe upgrade over leaving the built in Qi charging is really worth the effort. When using a Magsafe charger with Apple’s 20w Wall charger, I’ll get 8-12w. (Most bottom result is an example of that).


View attachment 640790

I’ve read the MagSafe charger is a bit picky about needing a specific and somewhat oddball USB-C PD 3.0 power profile for max charging speed, and will fall back to a slower one if the power supply doesn’t support it. Maybe the Aukey is missing the secret sauce.

The real story behind MagSafe, USB-C PD, and why you need a 20W AC charger | AppleInsider
 
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I ordered the Tesla wireless charger.. It does not want to charge my Galaxy S7. :( Phone just cycles through "charging" "quick charging" "charging interrupted" a few times, then stops completely.

Removing the protective case does not help alone, but if in addition I insert the phone upside down and not push it all the way to bottom (maybe 5mm gap), it suddenly starts working and charges at a decent rate. But not very convenient! Much easier to just connect a wired charger..

I tried the Tesla charger at both USB ports and with a cigarette lighter adapter, and also at home directly from mains powered 5V 3A charger... So it's not a lack of power, just the Tesla charger that is weak.

I have a $10 chinese wireless charger at home which works just fine, even with the phone case. It is also a bit picky about the phone position, so I guess the problem is just that antenna in the Tesla charger is not properly aligned to the phone..

Anyway. I will probably return this useless thing to Tesla. They will even cover return shipping, so no point digging further into this.

Tesla has a wired charger with similar phone mount that costs only 39€ including tax, I'll order that instead..
 
The Tesla fast wireless charger that came as standard equipment in my June, 2020 build S charges fine with my Samsung S10 + inserted fully with case. Charger was replaced once by Tesla to try to fix the "no key detected" warning which I recently noticed still occurs with the replacement Tesla Charger. Your phone must be a much more different shape than the S10, or its age is making it more cranky for precision positioning, or maybe your Tesla Charger is broken.
 
Random question.

With either the Magsafe or the original Tesla charger, did you ever notice interference with the key recognition? To be more specific about my ask, I always keep my key in my right pocket and I always put my phone in the wireless charger when I get in the car. Every time, about 1 minute into my drive, I get a "no key detected" warning on the dash. It took me a while, but I traced it back to interference with the wireless charger. As soon as I pull the phone from the charger, the message goes away. If I put the key farther away, it does not happen. It appears the car only checks for the key once, about a minute into the drive.

Am I the only one? Is it a Samsung issue (I am on Galaxy S10). Since you clearly use your charger, I wonder if you have seen this issue.

Sorry for the tangent.
FWIW, did make sure you have a fresh battery in your FOB? You probably did. I noticed some weirdness in my FOB/Key detection and a fresh battery resolved it. It happened about 8 months out from delivery. Didn't seem like a FOB battery would go out that soon, but you never know - maybe the factory installed a bad one from the batch.