Chevrolet Adds Cell Phone Cooling Mat, Welcome To The Beginning of the End

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

So, the world is coming to an end.

Smartphone users who just can’t handle the thought of their iDroidberrys shutting off because they get a little overheated, GM has a solution for you. The automaker announced a feature in upcoming 2016 Chevrolet Malibus and Impalas that will cool the phone while charging on the wireless mat before it turns itself into a hot brick of glass, plastic and metal.

Finally, engineers at GM got my letter.

According to GM, the vent will only operate when the vehicle’s heating or cooling system is on. The system works by placing an air vent on the mat, because that makes the most sense.

The feature will also be installed in Chevrolet Cruze and Volt models equipped with the wireless charging mat. For those of us who don’t spring for the wireless charging feature — or don’t plan on buying a Chevrolet soon — we’ll have to continue living in the Mesozoic Era with our nuclear-hot iPhone 6 Pluses.


Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

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  • The_yeti The_yeti on Jul 02, 2015

    This is great for the future of Android Auto. Just drop the phone on the charging mat, its charging, the phone cast its screen to the Head Unit, and its kept cool. Win here

  • Ronnie Schreiber Ronnie Schreiber on Jul 02, 2015

    Alternatively, they could put some Peltier devices in the charging pad, though that would probably cost more money to make and use more energy than a small A/C vent.

  • VenomV12 VenomV12 on Jul 03, 2015

    This is not a bad idea, when I am on longer drives sometimes I put my phone up to the AC vents to cool it down.

  • Calgarytek Calgarytek on Jul 06, 2015

    I use my overclocked S3 as a dashcam/nav/media player/waze/trapster. It gets super hot while charging. Then again I'm one of those people that believes in convergence of auto tech. Nobody offers a dashcam + infotainement + nav all in one. I think they should. I should get one of those arduino/raspberry units going...

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