Added a Phone mount and magnetic charging puck to the Tesla
Posted By RichC on May 27, 2026
My Tech Friday post for the last week of May 2026 has already been written and saved, so today’s Tesla Model 3 “techy” addition will be a mid-week “gadget” post instead.
We no longer pay for the Tesla “Premium” Connectivity since our older 2019 car is primarily used by Brenda for “around town” errands and not for road trips and travel (if it were my everyday and travel car, a “yes” paying the subscription would be an easy call). Unfortunately, with diesel prices now at $5.69/gallon, I’m not enthusiastic about taking our 2010 BMW X5 35d on road trips either. So … in order to have a few of the features without the added subscription, 
I’ve added a new magnetic charging puck to the side of the center display. I did this in a couple of steps.
First, I added the suction back hook system add-on sold on Amazon ($12.99 – seemed too cheap). After using it for a recent drive, running the ABRP app and SiriusXM app, this inexpensive tweak surpassed my expectations. The non-marring hook/suction cup system doesn’t look OEM, BUT it held my phone firmly and offered adjustability. My only issue was having to manually plug in a USB cord in order to keep the iPhone charged.
Second was to order a 17mm charging puck that would fit this setup … and not over-heat, or too slowly charge, my iPhone 16 Pro Max. So I ordered a COOLHOOD 17mm magnetic charging puck from overseas (recommended online) and waited 2-weeks for it to arrive. After spending and additional $17, I was really hoping this “cooling” charging puck would work … and it does. After routing the wires under the center console, it is reasonable out of the way and unless you’re looking too close, everything looks fine.
Next up a longer test trip running SiriiusXM and the ABRP apps live and see if the iPhone 16 Pro Max maintains charge and improves navigating to non-Supercharger DC-Fast CCS EV charging stations … which might be critically important for a couple possible trips we have planned if the fuel prices don’t come down – although I’m thankful we’re not in California. ☹️
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