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It seems like a smart and easy solution to some of your phone charging and time management woes: even if you didn’t have time to power up your phone before you left the house, charging it in your car solves all of your problems. Even better: you can listen to your favorite music while simultaneously charging your device as your drive and not lose a beat.
Except hold that thought. Charging your phone on the go is NOT the same as charging it at home using Apple-certified equipment and taking your time to ensure the charge lands between 30 and 80 percent. In fact, it can be downright damaging to your device. This is the one car charging mistake you should stop making because it takes HOURS off of your iPhone battery life.
Relying On Your Car To Charge Your Phone
The occasional charge in your car is no big deal — we’ve all done it and it is a very convenient alternative to charging at home when you’re in a rush. The problem stems from relying on your car to charge your phone ALL of the time — because the car simply isn’t the ideal setting for a charge.
“The problem with charging your phone in your car is the difference in voltage requirements,” says Tech Expert and Writer Varda Meyers Epstein at Kars4Kids. “Most car owners use their cigarette lighter as their charging station. The cigarette lighter supplies 12V, while smartphones generally use 5V when charging. The adapter can usually regulate the voltage safely. But if the adapter isn’t working as it should, or isn’t made to work with your particular phone, your phone may be blasted with too much power.”
According to Meyers Epstein, you won’t notice the damage to your phone, because at first, the damage is cumulative, happening over time, mostly about the health and lifespan of your phone battery. “The danger is that phone owners will continue to charge their phones in their cars, and eventually, the phone itself will be damaged,” Meyers Epstein says. “That damage could be to your phone’s charge point, or even to the motherboard itself. That kind of damage can get expensive.”
Doing a bit of research can prevent this damage, Meyers Epstein says. “Check online or with the manufacturers, to find out what sort of output you’re dealing with, to see if your car and your phone are compatible,” says Meyers Epstein. “You can also purchase a wave power inverter. This device can detect rapid changes in power output from your car or cigarette lighter, and can regulate how much power your smartphone receives.”
Another tip? When you are relying on your car to charge your device, never use your phone while it’s charging, says Jonathan Tian, Co-Founder of Mobitrix.
“This is the biggest problem of iPhone users; they connect their phone to the charger in the car and start playing the song through it also,” Tian says. “It affects your battery a lot; it not only affects your battery but even destroys its life. In the beginning, you are using a phone for 24 hours, but after doing car charging again and again while using it, you will see the difference between the battery life then and now. So avoid doing that if you want to make your iPhone battery last longer.”
