Seat/VW Group wireless charger useless?

Frozen_up_north

My new Leon includes wireless charging. A handy feature if it really worked. Unfortunately, if you uses your phone for anything useful, such as running Waze (a superb satnav/road hazard app by Google), the wireless charging is putting less into the phone battery than is being taken out.

Has anyone had success with wireless charging in any VW Group vehicles? I see old threads on various forums where the only solution is to turn off the wireless charging and use a cable!

I guess it's worth raising the issue with the dealer, but I won't be expecting a solution. The phone is an iPhone 13.

Thanks

TheSpectator

Don't think any car wireless charger is going to actively charge when running apps tbh - simply not enough power to compensate for the use.

daveyjp

Even a plugged in phone may not charge from a vehicle supply if you are using live data streaming 100% of the time you are driving.

Frozen_up_north

daveyjp said:

Even a plugged in phone may not charge from a vehicle supply if you are using live data streaming 100% of the time you are driving.

In my previous car, plugging a USB cable into the phone worked well. I saw on another forum that BMW wireless chargers worked OK but the same person also had a Seat that wouldn't maintain the charge with the same phone.

Mildly_Miffed

Are you sure your expectations are realistic?

A very quick google suggests that iPhones the age of yours charge at up to 18W via USB-C, but max 7.5W from non-Apple wireless.
The VW Group charger appears to be 5W max.

Goudy

Chargers and phones have different charging rates.
Some chargers are fast and phones can charge at the fast rate.
Other chargers are slow and some phones at only charge at a slower rate.

I think the iPhone 13 can charge at 7.5w wirelessly.

I think the wireless charger in the car is only 10w maybe 15w max for the very latest models.
This means with the current phone/charger you can only charge at a max of 7.5w.

With a different phone that charges at a higher speed, then either the charger or the phones speed would be the max.
eg, Google Pixels generally charge at 12w wirelessly.
If the charger was 15w, 12w would be it's max speed.
If the charger was 10w, 10w would be it's max speed.


Running certain apps that utilise things like GPS use more power from your phone and the balance between charging and power usage is just about balancing.

I would guess usage might be just under so your iPhone 13 would charge still under these circumstances, but very very very slowly as it's using most of what it's putting back in.

I believe the iPhone 13 can charge at 15w but only with a suitable "MagSafe charger".
That would allow you to charge twice as fast and sort your problem and leave the in car charger free for your passenger.
Either that or try a faster wirelessly charging phone.

Frozen_up_north

The car has 2 x USB-C sockets in the front and 2 x USB-C in the rear, so using a cable to charge the phone is not likely to be an issue. It is a pity the convenient built-in wireless charger is not sufficient to even keep the battery from discharging, unless the phone is just idle and not being used for anything useful.

DullGreyGuy

A google suggests older Seats had a 5w wireless charger whereas a iPhone 13 can support up to 15w.

I'm surprised thats not sufficient to at least maintain charge on an iPhone 13 but dont know the state of battery, brightness of the screen or what other apps you are running. Have you tried putting it into low battery mode and seeing if the 5w is then sufficient to at least hold charge?

Goudy

Frozen_up_north said:

The car has 2 x USB-C sockets in the front and 2 x USB-C in the rear, so using a cable to charge the phone is not likely to be an issue. It is a pity the convenient built-in wireless charger is not sufficient to even keep the battery from discharging, unless the phone is just idle and not being used for anything useful.

Newer cars with USB C's are generally between 10w and 45w depending on what make/model and where the actual socket is as some cars with sockets built in the mirror for dash cams might be lower rated, but it's worth checking with the manufacturer.

Some cars might even use USB-PD (up to 100w) but there are some safety concerns manufacturers need to comply with.

So using an Apple Lightening cable and charging tethered would charge at a max of 20w as the 13 can charge at that rate tethered, obviously if the socket put out 20w or more.

Older USB sockets tend to be much lower, between 2.5w and 4.5w was common for 2.0/3.0.

user1977

Mine charges ok (Golf Mk8 and an iPhone 11) even if the phone is running Google Maps through Airplay.

born_again

Frozen_up_north said:

The car has 2 x USB-C sockets in the front and 2 x USB-C in the rear, so using a cable to charge the phone is not likely to be an issue. It is a pity the convenient built-in wireless charger is not sufficient to even keep the battery from discharging, unless the phone is just idle and not being used for anything useful.

Is phone in a case that may effect things?

Bonus for you is that at least phone won't overheat. Which is often a common issue with I-Phones charging in car.