We’re all constantly on our phones. It’s come to the point where they are almost a part of our hands. Subsequently, we rely on them so heavily that our heart drops when it goes below 20% battery. We’ve all felt that way when we’re out, even if we were close to home, and we begin to panic looking for a way to charge it, so we usually opt for the car charger. Makes total sense right? You’re sitting in the car anyway. Still, charging your phone in the car can slowly ruin your battery.
Voltage Changes: The Real Problem
When your phone is plugged in your car, it is not receiving the same power that it would through a wall outlet. Many people do not consider that the voltage from your vehicle’s electrical system is not steady. It fluctuates, and a lot! Want to use the air conditioning? Lower voltage. Stepping on the gas? Higher voltage. Radio on, headlights on, the list goes on for functions that will cause fluctuations.
Those constant fluctuations can play havoc on charging your phone. Batteries do not like to take inconsistent power. Over time, that inconsistency can reduce your battery’s ability to effectively hold a charge. Sure, you won’t notice it after one or two chargers, but every day of that, and your battery health will decline.
Heat Buildup: Twice The Trouble for Batteries
Cars can get hot. Really hot. Especially in the summer, or when parked in the sun. Have you ever opened your door after your car has been parked outside in the summer? It’s like opening up an oven. Now, take your phone that is plugged-in and charging, put it in that hot box that you just opened. Charging alone already warms up the phone. Add to that an also roasting car interior and your battery is basking in a sauna. Lithium-ion batteries cannot take this treatment. Lithium-ion batteries break down faster at higher temperatures.
What happens? You end up with a battery that can hardly hold a charge. Even worse, the phone may even start powering off occasionally or throttling down, trying to protect itself from overheating.
Not Enough Charging Speed: Trying to Burn it Down Slowly
Most car chargers are slow, so they do not output the same level of power as a decent wall charger. They will keep your phone alive on a quick drive. If your battery is dead or almost dead, you will not even scratch the surface on getting it back to 100% on the way across town.
Some car chargers have just enough output to keep the battery from draining further, but don’t actually charge the battery up effectively to new useable charge. So you will get to your destination, check your phone dead at 17%. Annoying right?
Unreliable Charging Ports: They Are Not Created Equal
Every car’s charging ports are different. Some charging ports are solid, some are just as rough as the road surface. The auto manufacturer is not caring about the charging port return,—they are building a car. So you will plug into a port that has intermittent charging from the port or the power source cuts off as you hit a bump or turn.
This type of charging messes with your battery even more. Charging, cut off again, and then back to charging over and over puts stress not only on your charge, but with batteries, it constantly packs cells. You can eventually see some inconsistent performance like getting let’s say a drop from 50% to 20%, or just the phone turning off even though it shows that there should still be power left.
The risk of overcharging: Built-in safety features have their limits
Phones today offer built-in overcharge protection. The battery management system tells the phone when to stop pulling power when the battery is full. But these systems work best in conjunction with safe, reliable chargers. A cheap disposable car charger can have inconsistent or poor communication with the phone’s protection circuit.
In some cases, the phone is still pulling tiny amounts of power even though it’s “full” and generating unnecessary heat, all of which damages the battery long-term. In extreme cases, this can lead to battery swelling or leaks – both are dangerous.
Better charging options.
So what’s the answer? Use a quality wall charger as much as possible. If you’re out and your phone is very low, consider using a portable power bank instead of your car charger. Power banks usually output more stable, regulated power, and are typically less damaging to the phone’s more sensitive battery chemistry.
And one more tip: charge your phone before you leave the house. This idea is almost obvious to most of us, but most of us probably forget this too. If you charge your phone before you leave home you’ll never have to worry about that tempting last chance to top off before you leave! Avoid Charging In Extreme Temperatures
If charging must be done in the car, try to do it when it’s not extremely hot or cold inside the car (extreme heat or extreme cold can damage the battery faster). If possible, cool down or heat up your car by starting the AC or heater before plugging in your phone.
Buy a Good Charger
If you have no option but to charge it in the car, buy a charger from a reputable company, instead of the cheapest product that you can purchase in the gas station. A good charger is going to provide better voltage regulation and will be more accommodating of your phone’s built-in safety measures. It is not going to fix the heat or fluctuation issues completely, but it will make a difference.
Why This Is Important
Our phones, in general, are not being replaced very often, prices are on the rise and most people we know want their phones to last three or four years. The battery cycle is usually the first thing that dies. When you damage the battery early, by charging your phone in your car every day, you are just going to pay a lot more for a battery replacement or get a new phone sooner than you would like.
And just to eliminate anybody who might think “otherwise, I will just plug it in anyway”: Remember that most modern phones throttle their performance whenever they detect a battery is weak. Meaning that you are going to limit your phone’s potential over time, simply because you used the wrong charging method.
Choose the Healthy Option
Sure, charging in your car is simple enough. Everybody has done it. However, simple is not better when there’s going to be a cost to your battery health, battery performance and if you really push it, battery safety.
The next time you are tempted to plug in during your short commute, take a moment to think about whether you truly need the extra 5% charging your phone in your car is going to add before you get home. Most of the time, you probably don’t. Your battery will appreciate not charging it in the car.
If charging your phone in your car is not the best idea, then learning to charge your phone correctly is going to help you prolong the life of your phone—and your device will be reliable for years.
